Bridget McAree

With heavy hearts yet deep gratitude we announce the passing of our beloved mother, Bridget White McAree, who peacefully departed this world at the age of 93 on Monday, April 28th in the home of her eldest daughter Mary and son-in-law Martin McElroy of New Milford, New Jersey. She was a pillar of strength and compassion whose wisdom and generosity touched the lives of everyone who knew her. 

A devoted mother who was always there for her friends and family, she is survived by her seven children: James and his wife, Sandra; Patrick Noel; Mary and her husband, Martin McElroy; Carmel and her husband, Des Lambe; Kevin and his wife, Natasha; Dymphna and her husband, James Esposito, Kathleen and her husband, Barry Kilcoyne, 14 proud grandchildren: Dillon, Connor, Andrew, Matthew, Desmond, Emmett, Colm, Liam, Jacqueline, Pearse, Sophie, Bridget, Gavin, Ryan, and 26 loving nieces and nephews. 

Born in County Cavan, Ireland on December 3, 1931, Bridget was the sixth of seven children born to John White of Dernaferst, Lough Gowna and Margaret Lynch of Castlepollard, Westmeath. She is predeceased by elder siblings John White, Rose Gray, Patrick White, Margaret Reilly, Kathleen Baldacchino, and survived by her loving younger brother, William White, and his wife, Alice.

Bridget arrived in New York and worked as a live-in nanny in the same neighborhood as her sister Kathleen. After taking a bookkeeping course, she found a job in the billing department of Schraff’s.  She met her future husband Pat McAree of Monaghan when he asked her to dance at the Jaeger House in New York City. They married on December 1st 1962, bought a home at 446 62nd Street around the corner from her sister Margaret and brother-in-law, Gene Reilly, and raised their seven children in Brooklyn until moving to Bogota, New Jersey in 1981. 

She was a devoted parishioner of St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Bogota and held an honorary seat in the row behind the lecturers.  She will be missed by her best friends Philomena Sheridan and Joyce Esposito and all of her loving friends at the Monday meeting. 

Visiting hours will be held on Thursday, May 1st from 2:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. at the Boulevard Funeral Home 1151 River Road, New Milford, NJ 07646.  A funeral mass will be held on Friday, May 2nd at 10:00 A.M. at St. Joseph’s Church 115 East Fort Lee Road Bogota, NJ 07603. She will be laid to rest with her loving mother at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, NY. 

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, 115 East Fort Lee Road Bogota, NJ 07603.

Funeral Mass Live Stream Link- https://facebook.com/stjosephbogota/live

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