At the age of 12, she knew she wanted to become a nurse and after graduating from Erasmus Hall High School she followed her dream, graduating from St. John’s Episcopal Hospital School of Nursing with an RN and then St. John’s University, where she earned a BSN. She worked at various hospitals in New York City and also spent a year as a travelling nurse in California and Washington, an experience she remembered fondly.
In 1961, Marcella married James “Jim” Grogan, also of Brooklyn. She left her nursing career and raised their three daughters in Brooklyn until 1970, when the family moved to Harpersfield, NY. In 1973, Marcella and Jim opened Stamford Auto Parts in Stamford, NY, and several years later Mid Valley Auto Parts in Middleburg, NY, both of which they ran until Jim’s passing in 1984. For the next 30 years, Marcella successfully ran the businesses on her own. At the age of 78, she retired and moved to Lake Jackson, TX, where she spent happy years with family and new friends.
Marcella was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her brother, John Foley, and his wife, Barbara.
She is survived by her daughters, Caren Grogan and John of London, UK; Nancy Yung and Ken of Lake Jackson; Marcella Latta and David of Lake Jackson; grandchildren, Ryan Doyle, John, Riley, Terrence, Alexander and Margot Yung; and Jack, Mark and Benjamin Latta; as well as nieces, nephews, godchildren, and special friends Carolyn Williams and Dorothy Weinberger of NYC.
The family gives heartfelt thanks to Irene and to the staff at Country Village Care in Angleton for their years of devoted love and care for “Mrs. Grogan.”
A visitation will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 16, at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Lake Jackson, with Rosary at 10:30 a.m., and Funeral Mass at 11 a.m., celebrated by the Reverend Dwight Canizares and assisted by Deacon Joseph White. Burial will be held at Restwood Memorial Park, in Clute.
Donations can be made in Marcella’s memory to the St Vincent DePaul Society at St. Michael’s in Lake Jackson, TX, or the Stamford Village Library, Stamford, NY. https://www.svlny.org/contact-us/
