John J. Haggerty

Age 81 of Pennsauken

died in his home on May 31st, 2016, in Pennsauken, New Jersey, of natural causes.

Haggerty was born on July 3rd, 1934, in Philadelphia, the oldest child of Mary Ellen Ridge Haggerty and John J. Haggerty Sr., who worked as a laborer for the Atlantic Richfield oil company. He grew up in a narrow rowhouse on Rosewood Street in South Philadelphia with his sisters Maureen and Marguerite and his brother Tom. The family attended St. Monica’s church and the children went to local Catholic schools, where Haggerty excelled. He enrolled in LaSalle College, interrupting his studies to enlist in the Marines, where he served honorably for two years before returning to college and completing his degree in English literature.

After graduating, Haggerty taught English literature and poetry in three South Jersey high schools, Camden Catholic and Woodrow Wilson in Camden and Holy Cross in Cinnaminson. He began dating Peggy Myrtetus, a classmate of his sister Maureen at the Misericordia Hospital School of Nursing. The couple married at St. Joan of Arc Church in Camden, New Jersey, in February of 1959. After a honeymoon in New England, they settled in Collingswood, New Jersey and started their own family, which grew to include four daughters, Mary Ellen, Margaret Anne, Monica Mavourneen and Rebecca Marie, and a son, John Thomas.

To support his expanding family, Haggerty left teaching and pursued a career in business. He worked at Kranzley and Company and the Bank of Virginia and received a master’s degree in business administration from the Darden School at the University of Virginia. In 1980, Haggerty joined Citicorp, where he rose to become Manager of Asian Operations . He spent more than two decades at Citicorp, working for the company in New York, Towson, St. Louis and Southeast Asia. After retiring, he returned to South Jersey to be closer to his extended family.

An energetic person with an eclectic range of interests, Haggerty pursued many hobbies throughout his life. As a young man, he took part in the annual Mummer’s Parade in South Philadelphia on New Year’s Day. He loved to sing, and entertained multitudes of partygoers over the years with his repertoire of traditional Irish-American songs. He was an early and enthusiastic adopter of jogging and competed in road races into his late seventies. During his student days and again in his later years, he rowed crew on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. He was an active participant in Mensa, an organization for individuals with high IQs, and enjoyed arthouse films.

Although he gave up teaching, Haggerty never lost his reverence for education. He supported his eleven grandchildren in many of their educational endeavors and delighted in their accomplishments. He was also a longtime supporter of Maryknoll, a Catholic agency serving the poor in the developing world. He performed many quiet acts of generosity and charity in his own life, including spending every Christmas with his sister during her years at an assisted-living home.

Viewing & Funeral Monday 9 AM in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 642 Market St., Camden, NJ 08102. Funeral Mass at 10 AM Rev. Matthew J. Hillyard celebrant. Interment at Calvary Cemetery, Cherry Hill.

He is survived by his brother, Tom, of Oakland, California; his former wife, Peggy, of Cherry Hill, New Jersey; daughters Mary Ellen Haggerty Moore of Pennsauken, New Jersey; Margaret Haggerty of New York City, Monica Gill of Darien, Connecticut, and Rebecca Haggerty of Santa Monica, California; son John Haggerty of Westmont, New Jersey; ten grandchildren, Alex, Michael and Adrienne Moore, Leslie, Madeleine, Jonathan and Harrison Gill, Gillian Haggerty, and Sophia and Benjamin Falk; a cousin, Maggie Arbuckle of West Philadelphia; nephew Vincent Quinn of Coral Gables, Florida; and nieces Ellen Quinn of New York City, Erin Haggerty of Van Nuys, California and Ann Topping Haggerty of Austin, Texas. He was predeceased by his sisters Maureen Quinn and Marguerite Haggerty and his grandson John “J.T.” Haggerty.

John was especially devoted to cleft palate surgery for children through Operation Smile, 3641 Faculty Blv’d, Virginia Beach, VA 23453. The family respectfully suggests donations in John’s memory be offered there.

Arrangements by

BLAKE-DOYLE

FUNERAL HOME

Collingswood