Marie Cronin Donnelly
Obituary Reports the death of an individual, providing an account of the person’s life including their achievements, any controversies in which they were involved, and reminiscences by people who knew them.
Marie Cronin Donnelly, 89, of Hawthorne and formerly of Tarrytown and Boston, died on May 23 at her home.
Donnelly was an accomplished librarian who worked until she was 84 years old. A devoted mother and wife, she always put her family and faith first, and received much joy from her four devoted children and 12 adoring grandchildren.
She was a devout Catholic and parishioner of Holy Innocents Church in Pleasantville. She also served as an active member of the Rosary Altar Society and volunteered in the school library for Holy Rosary Parish in Hawthorne.
She was born on Aug. 24, 1931, in Boston to the late John and Marion (nee Noonan) Cronin.
On Aug. 11, 1956, she married Robert Donnelly at St. Teresa’s Church in North Tarrytown. They were married for 51 years, until Robert died in March 2008.
She graduated from Girls’ Latin School in 1948 and attended Boston College. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from Mercy College. In 1978, she graduated magna cum laude from Southern Connecticut State College with a master’s in library science.
She began her lifelong career as a librarian working in the Boston Public Library fulltime at the age of 16. Her love for people and books would take her to the Tarrytown Public Library and the White Plains Public Library, where she retired as head of circulation and technical processes at the age of 60. She was instrumental in modernizing the White Plains library system. Shortly after her retirement, she took a part-time job at the Mount Pleasant Public Library, in the children’s room, and continued working there until about five years ago.
Her hobbies included reading, camping and traveling with her family. In 2004, Marie and her daughter, Ellen, traveled through North Dakota, completing Marie’s travels to all 50 states.
She is survived by her four children, Kevin (Elaine Yvars) of LaGrange, N.Y., Ellen Donnelly-Acker (Gifford) of White Plains, Paul (Susan Ruiz) of Milwaukee and Philip (Daniela Wrede) of Thornwood; her grandchildren, Ryan, Samantha, Sean, Andrew, Kailey, Heather, Sara, Ben, Angela, Christina, Alex and Noah; her cousins, Janie (Cronin) Reinertsen of Toms River, N.J. and Marian (Cronin) Meling of Norway; her sister-in-law, Virginia (Meade) Cronin; as well as many loving nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
She was predeceased by her brother, David Cronin, of Yonkers and her daughter-in-law, Rebecca Whitney Donnelly, of Putnam Valley.
She will be missed by her beloved cat Georgie.
The family received friends at Beecher Flooks Funeral Home in Pleasantville on May 28. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at Holy Innocents Roman Catholic Church in Pleasantville on May 29.
In lieu of flowers, donations to Rosary Hill Home, 600 Linda Ave., Hawthorne, N.Y. 10532 would be appreciated.
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