Maureen Ann Hurley (nee McCarthy) of Mattituck died Jan. 7, 2017 at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Westhampton Beach. She was 66 years old.
She was born in Baltimore, Maryland to John McCarthy and Ann (Pinkham) McCarthy, she spent her childhood in Ellicott City, Maryland, and Clarendon Hills, Illinois. She graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where she played fullback and goalie on the field hockey team. While at Dickinson, she was introduced to her future husband by a sorority sister who knew him from childhood summers in Mattituck.
After marrying in 1974, the couple briefly lived in Warrensville Heights, Ohio before settling in Bogota, New Jersey.
Over the course of years, she worked as the director of land-bridge operations at Seatrain Lines, a substitute teacher for the Bogota New Jersey Public Schools, a legal secretary at the law offices of Palmer and Gauss in Bernardsville, New Jersey, an assistant at Olson and Thompson, PA in Bernardsville, New Jersey, and a state filing specialist at Chubb Insurance in Warren, New Jersey. In 1987, they moved to Bridgewater, New Jersey, which would be their home for the next 25 years until they retired to Mattituck in 2012.
She was active with civic and religious organizations, serving as the president of the Weehawken, New Jersey Guild, a small group faith leader and retreat leader for Cornerstone and Beloved retreats at St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish in Bridgewater, a meal coordinator for the Samaritan Homeless Interim Program (SHIP) in Somerville, a cook for Appalachian service trips organized by Immaculata High School and Justiceworx, a Webelos den mother, a member of a women’s faith sharing group, the secretary of the Brower’s Woods Association, a member of the Jamesport Homemakers Club, and a meal preparer for Maureen’s Haven.
Her family said that during holidays, Maureen ensured that the doors of her home were open to all: family, friends, neighbors of friends, her son’s college roommates and friends, and families new to the area, among others. She was the host of the home for wayward travelers, and there was always room for one more. Her sense of hospitality and her joy of cooking for others permeated her service and life. She held a special place in her heart for the celebration of Christmas, which gave her an opportunity to bake copious amounts of cookies for friends and neighbors and to decorate — she was known to adorn the house with a Christmas tree in every room, each with a different theme, including one consisting entirely of pink flamingo ornaments.
She is survived by her loving husband Jack of Mattituck, her son Pat (Susan) of Wellesley, Massachusetts and her two grandchildren, Seamus and Kate.
The family will receive friends Thursday, Jan. 11 from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m.at the DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Mattituck. A funeral Mass will be held Friday, January 12 at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Good Counsel R.C, Church.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to either Maureen’s Haven, 28 Lincoln Street, Riverhead, NY 11901, or East End Hospice, 481 Westhampton-Riverhead Road, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978-7048.
