Patricia Agnes Cleary

CLEARY, Patricia Agnes Hanley, wife of the late Timothy F. Cleary, mother of six, grandmother of fourteen, and great grandmother of eight, died peacefully on Monday, August 16, 2021, at her summer home in Stone Harbor, New Jersey with family at her side.

Known to many as Pat and her family as "Nana", Mrs. Cleary was a devoted wife, daughter, mother, sister, aunt, grandmother, great grandmother and friend. As a life-long Catholic, her faith was central and foundational.

Born August 30, 1924, Mrs. Cleary would have been 97 years old later this month. Always proud of her New York roots, Mrs. Cleary was born and raised in New York living there for 44 years. Mrs. Cleary attended St. Mary's School followed by Cathedral High School for Girls and Packard Business College.

In June of 1947, she married Timothy F. Cleary. Grounded in faith and love and blessed with a large family, Pat and Tim enjoyed 62 years of a wonderful marriage. It was Tim's legal career that brought the family to Bethesda, Maryland in 1968 - at first, a tough transition for Pat as a native New Yorker. But, soon, she became involved with Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, where she worked for the next 50 years greeting five decades of Stone Ridge students, faculty, staff, visitors and alumnae. In a recent Stone Ridge alumnae publication, Mrs. Cleary was described as “representing the heart and soul of the school” and “anyone who encountered Mrs. Cleary’s loving face and familiar voice instantly felt at home.” The front desk in the new Student Life Center at Stone Ridge will be named in her honor.

Always devoted to her family with the ability to keep up with each in an individual and meaningful way, Mrs. Cleary leaves behind her six children: Timothy F. X. Cleary of Milton, MA (Mary Ellen), Dr. Maureen Richey of Chevy Chase, MD (Tom), Therese Jordan of Potomac, MD (Jeff), Richard Cleary of Louisville, KY (Helen Bragg), Gail Cleary of New York, NY and Eileen Cleary Murphy of Westfield, NJ (Sean).

She leaves behind fourteen grandchildren: Timothy Cleary, Jr. (Sophie), Christopher Cleary (Elizabeth), Brian Cleary, Kathleen Cleary, Dr. Patricia Richey, Thomas Richey, Drew Jordan (Wendy), Madeline Jordan, Nicholas Jordan, Richard Cleary, Jr. (Robin), Thomas Cleary, Morgan Murphy, Sarah Murphy, and Brooke Murphy and eight great granddaughters: Isabelle Cleary, Millie Cleary, Colette Cleary, Evangeline Cleary, Jolene Cleary, Clementine Jordan, Margaret Cleary and Helen Bragg Cleary.

One of eight children, Mrs. Cleary is survived by her brother Frank Hanley (Pat) of Bethany Beach, DE and her sister, Anne Mullane, of Ventnor, NJ.

Mrs. Cleary is predeceased by her loving parents, Simon and Sallie Hanley, as well as her siblings, Jane Kennedy, Josephine Martin, Simon Hanley, Therese Lefrieri and Veronica Furey.

In lieu of flowers, gifts in memory of Mrs. Cleary can be made to Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart on Rockville Pike in Bethesda, Maryland.

A private Mass of Christian Burial will be held, and a public “Celebration of Life” will take place in the Spring of 2022. Inurnment will occur at Arlington National Cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to Gawler’s Funeral Home, Washington DC.