Eileen D. Curran

As an attorney at Southern New Mexico Legal Services, Eileen represented those who needed legal assistance but could not afford it. She also served her teammates as the president of the United Auto Workers union local that represented Legal Services employees. After retiring from the law, she worked with young children at the My Favorite Place day care centers that she co-founded with her husband and daughter in Las Cruces and Mesilla.

Eileen’s community service included several years as a board member at the Casa De Peregrinos food pantry. She was an active parishioner at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church and a member of the Catholic Daughters of America. She received papal honors as a Lady Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre.

Eileen Gallagher was born June 18, 1931 in New York. She attended Cathedral High School and Fordham University before becoming one of the first women to receive a degree from Harvard University with her master’s in counseling. After raising her four children, Eileen returned to St. John’s University and received a professional diploma in psychology. She was in her 50s when she entered the City University of New York Queens College School of Law, earned a juris doctor degree, and was admitted to the bar in New York and New Mexico.

She is survived by her husband of 60 years, Hon. Patrick Curran, a retired Dona Ana County magistrate judge, and four children: Kevin, Catharine, Thomas, and Terence. Survivors also include 23 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

A Mass of the Resurrection will be offered at St. Julie Billiart Church in Dartmouth, MA on Saturday, November 28, at 11:00 a.m. She will be interred at Calvary Cemetery in New York City.

Streaming of the Mass and arrangements are being handled by Waring-Sullivan Homes of Dartmouth: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/funeral-homes/south-dartmouth-ma/dartmouth-funeral-home/4683

Donations to Casa De Peregrinos in her memory are encouraged. https://www.casadeperegrinos.org/donate/