Mary Higgins Clark

Mary Higgins Clark, age 92, a resident of Saddle River, NJ, passed away on Friday, January 31, 2020, surrounded by her loving family. Mary was born on Christmas Eve in 1927. She grew up in the Bronx with her parents, Luke Higgins and Nora Durkin Higgins, and her brothers Joseph and John. Her father died when she was 11. After graduating from Villa Maria Academy, she worked as a secretary to help support her family. In early 1949 she joined Pan American Airways as a stewardess and flew to Europe, Africa and Asia.

After marrying Warren Clark later in 1949, she registered for a writing course at New York University because she always knew that she had to become a writer. In 1956, after years of rejections, she sold her first short story to a national magazine and published many more in the ensuing years.

Mary and Warren lived happily with their five children in Washington Township, N.J. until Warren’s tragic death from a heart attack in 1964 when he was 45. Mary was then 36. Thereafter, while deeply grieving him, she commuted daily to New York City and wrote radio shows to support her young family.

She wrote her first book, Aspire to the Heavens, a biography of George Washington, in 1969. In 1975 her first suspense novel,“Where are the Children,” was published and became a best-seller. More than 50 suspense novels followed. Mary was a longtime member of the Mystery Writers of America and in 2000 received the Grand Master Award.

When her children were older, Mary attended Fordham University at night and graduated summa cum laude with a degree in philosophy in 1979. Her love of Fordham was reflected in her ongoing participation in University events, her tenure as a member of the Board of Trustees, and in her generosity. In 2013, she endowed Fordham’s Mary Higgins Clark Chair in Creative Writing. She believed strongly in helping others to have the opportunity for a fine education so that they could follow their dreams – as she had. Over the last several decades, Mary received numerous honorary doctorates from many colleges and universities.

Mary was a devout Catholic. Her Church affiliated awards included becoming a Dame of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, a Dame of Malta, and a Lady of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. She also received a Graymoor Award from the Franciscan Friars and the Christopher Life Achievement Award. She was devoted to helping many Catholic causes, schools and other charities. She shared the fruits of her success with many others in need. Over the years Mary tirelessly gave of her time and attended hundreds of fundraising events to help these entities achieve the most benefit for others. She never forgot her early struggles and never stopped trying to help others.

Mary was enormously proud of her Irish heritage. Her father was an Irish immigrant and her mother was the daughter of Irish immigrants. One of her proudest moments was when she was selected to serve as the Grand Marshall of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City in 2011. That same year she was inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame.

As a longtime resident of New Jersey, Mary was also thrilled to be inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2011.

In 1996, Mary married John Conheeney, who had spent his entire career at Merrill Lynch, retiring as Chairman of the Futures Division. They shared twenty-two happy years until his death in 2018.

Mary was utterly devoted to her family. She was pre-deceased by her parents, her brothers and by her beloved first husband, Warren Clark and her beloved second husband, John Conheeney. She is survived by her children, Superior Court Judge Marilyn Clark, Municipal Court Judge Warren Clark and his wife Sharon, David Clark, Carol Higgins Clark, with whom she co-wrote several novels, and Patricia Clark; her grandchildren, Elizabeth Clark and her spouse Lauren Pomerantz, Andrew Clark and his wife Taylor, Courtney Clark Morrison and her husband, James Morrison, David Clark, Justin Clark, and Jerome Derenzo and his wife Tara. She is also survived by her great grandchildren, Will Clark and Louis Morrison, and by many nieces and nephews.

Mary is also survived by her stepchildren, John Conheeney, Jr. and his wife Debbie, Barbara Conheeney, Nancy Tarleton and her husband David, and Patricia Conheeney and her spouse, Michelle DeWitt; and their children Megan, Kelly, Lauren, John and the late Michael Conheeney; David, Courtney, Thomas and Liam Tarleton, Robert and the late Ashley Lanzara, and Oliver Conheeney.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Becker Funeral Home in Westwood, NJ. The wake will be held on Thursday, February 6th from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. at St. Gabriel’s Church in Saddle River, NJ. Please note that the wake is actually at the Church, not the funeral home. The Mass will be at the Church at 11 AM on Friday.

Burial will immediately follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York.

In lieu of flowers, Mary would want you to perform an act of kindness for someone in need.

Becker-funeralhome.com