Pauline McGarrigle

To know Pauline was to know that strength does not come from physical capacity, it comes from an indomitable will. Regardless of what came her way, her tenacity was beyond challenge. Life dealt her a few hands that would have stopped the average person, a near fatal car crash while seven months pregnant, a very large tumor, a burst appendix and even an aortic aneurysm in her 80s, yet she muscled through them all. Even if things were at their worst, you were less likely to hear Pauline complain, she’d rather pay a compliment. It was this type of resolve that saw her rise from a newsreader to Head of Customer Service for McMillan Publishing. Even when she put in for retirement, at age 70, they asked her to move to NY to take on a higher position with the company. But that job was always secondary to her real career, being a mother. There was no place she’d rather be than in her home, filled with family. While raising her children she had the uncanny ability to show the fortitude of a drill sergeant, coupled with an unending supply of care, sensitivity and love. She instilled in them not just everything they would need for life, but she left them with a song in their hearts.

As a young woman, Pauline loved singing in the choir at St. Peter’s Church. It’s there that she was introduced to a young soldier who had just returned from WWII named Bernard. It was a mere 6 months before they began their 64 years of marriage. Before his passing in 2010, they were blessed by their children: Bernard (Karen) of MN, Geoffrey (Rita) of VA, Kevin (Suzie) of DE, Shaun (Michele) of Pennsauken and Tammy Fey (Keith) of Pennsauken, and again by their 16 grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren. Pauline is also survived by her brother, Herman Mosteller (Caroline) of Edgewater Park.

Come celebrate Pauline’s 89 wonderful years (June 13, 1925 – September 12, 2014) Tuesday from 7-9 PM and Wednesday from 9-10 AM at the Sweeney Funeral Home, Riverside. Mass of Christian Burial to follow will be celebrated at 10:30 AM Wednesday, at Jesus the Good Sheppard (St. Peter’s Site), Riverside. Interment to follow at St. Peter’s Cemetery. In lieu of flowers memorial gifts may be made to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, 101 Middleton St. Riverside, NJ 08075.