Pauline Cooney

She was born Pauline Mastrorillo in Brooklyn and grew up there, graduating from Sarah J. Hale High School. She lived in her native borough until 2008, when she moved to Great Kills to live with her daughter, Joyceann Garippa, and her family.

Mrs. Cooney became the sole provider for her family and held many jobs in the retail industry to support them. She worked for more than 50 years, until retiring in 2008.

She was a dedicated mother who referred to her children as her "jewels," her family said.

Mrs. Cooney enjoyed cooking, but her greatest pleasure was being with her grandchildren.

In Brooklyn, she was a parishioner of St. Athanasius R.C. Church.

Surviving, along with her daughter, Joyceann, are her son, Frank; her daughter, Kathleen Iacovone, and five grandchildren.

The funeral will be Friday from the Casey McCallum Rice South Shore Funeral Home, with a mass at 11 a.m. in St. Clare's R.C. Church, both in Great Kills. Burial will follow in St. John's Cemetery, Queens.

um Rice South Shore Funeral Home, Staten Island, NY.