Obituary for Mary Ann Donnelly

Mary Ann Donnelly
passed away Sunday, All
Saints Day, Nov. 1, 2015,
at Wood River Village Retirement
Center in Bensalem.
She was 87.
Her life was marked
by love of her family, passion
for learning, but most
importantly, kindness.
Mary was the loving
wife of Thomas William
Donnelly for 65 years. She
was the daughter of the
late Frank and Victoria
Dement. She was the dearest
mother of Mary E.
Fielding (Alan), Claire M.
Swift (Butch), Thomas M.
Donnelly (Tammy), and
Michael D. Donnelly (Susan). She also is survived by
nine cherished grandchildren, Cameron, Megan,
Caitlin, Aileen, James, Kelsey, Colleen, Maggie, and
Michael.
Raised in Burlington, Mary began working at the
local drug store on her 15th birthday. Just prior to
her high school graduation, owners of the store offered
to send her to pharmacy school in return for
her working as a pharmacist upon her graduation.
She eschewed this benevolent offer in favor of her
passion for nursing. She would graduate from Bryn
Mawr as a cadet nurse in 1948. The need for Army
nurses having diminished, she began her nursing career
at Cooper Hospital in Camden, followed by
Mount Holly Hospital, and McKinley in Trenton.
Raising her four children next became her priority.
She sewed suits for her sons, and dresses for her
daughters; taught them to sing all her favorite songs,
and above all, provided consistent demonstration of
her kind and gentle approach to life's issues.
As the last of the children entered school, she
picked up her nursing career in the coronary care
unit at Lower Bucks Hospital, then Livengrin Recovery
Center in Bensalem, and finally Bensalem High
School where she cared for students for eight years.
Along the way, she attained her MS in Nursing
having written all of her papers on a manual typewriter.
Mary and Tom loved to travel, having visited two
of her children in Germany on several occasions, and
ventured to many other European and North American
destinations as well as Australia. One of their
most memorable experiences was a train trip across
the country starting in Trenton and culminating in
Seattle.
Mary had many talents and interests throughout
her life. She was a bugler in the Burlington VFW Cadet
Corps. She played the accordion, sang, knitted,
sewed, and read voraciously, something she learned
from her father.
She will be missed for all of these qualities, but
mostly for her kindness, and love for her family.
Family and friends are invited to attend Mary's
viewing from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, at Molden
Funeral Chapel, 133 Otter St., Bristol, and from 9:30
a.m. until her funeral Mass at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday,
Nov. 4, at St. Ephrem Roman Catolic Church, 5400
Hulmeville Road, Bensalem. Interment will be held
privately at a later time.
In lieu of flowers, the family request that donations
be made in Mary's name to the Alzheimer's Association
(alz.org).
Molden Funeral Chapel,
Bristol
www.moldenfuneralchapel.com