

Anna Katharine Houlihan, the most wonderful and loving wife, mother, sister and friend, has sadly left this world on October 13, 2023 at the age of 58 after her strongly fought battle against Mucosal Melanoma. She was born to Walter and Anna Bayer on September 28, 1965. After graduating from Clarkstown High School North, Anna earned her Bachelor's degree (Summa Cum Laude) at Pace University, and received a full ride to New York University where she completed her Master's of Arts in Psychology. She married her high school sweetheart, William Houlihan, at age 23.
At 25 years old and 7 months pregnant, she was hired at American Cyanamid. From there, she spent 30 years in pharmaceutical clinical development in the dermatology and oncology field at DUSA Pharmaceuticals, Sun Pharma, and ultimately became the Vice President of Clinical Operations at SonALAsense, where she aided in the development of non-invasive treatment for rare brain tumors and recruited for clinical trials.
Anna was diagnosed with Mucosal Melanoma on Memorial Day Weekend of 2022, and "retired" in September 2022 to focus on raising awareness about her rare cancer, the same way she did for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) in children and Glioblastoma (GBM) in adults at SonALAsense. Anna leaves behind her loving husband, William Houlihan, her brother Scott and wife Carolynne Bayer, as well as her 4 children: Billy and his wife Laurin, Jimmy and his fiancee Ashley, Johnny and his girlfriend Tess, and her daughter Rosie. She was predeceased by her parents Walter and Anna Bayer, and her brother Walter Bayer.
Despite Anna's pain and uphill battle, she fought courageously always with a smile and an "I'm doing great," as selflessly as she had been her entire life while touching an overwhelming amount of people along the way.
A viewing at higgins congers for Anna will be held Wednesday, October 18, 2023 from 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM. A funeral mass st. paul's church will occur Thursday, October 19, 2023 at 10:00 AM. A private cremation will occur.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to mmwarriors.org
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.MJHigginsCongers.com for the Houlihan family.
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