Obituaries for Dec. 23, 2020

Regina M. Mooney

Regina M. Mooney, 85, of Berkeley Township, formerly of Kearny, died Friday, Dec. 11, 2020.  She was born June 12, 1935, in Jersey City, to the late Joseph Reilly and Mary Long Reilly. She was a loving wife, devoted mother, grandmother, sister and friend.

Regina was the first member of her family to attend and graduate college and in doing so she exhibited great fortitude and character. Following her graduation from the New Jersey State Teachers College at Jersey City in 1957, she became a teacher for the Kearny Board of Education.  She taught kindergarten and first grade in Kearny for over 25 years, spending most of her tenure at Franklin School.

During retirement she volunteered her time in support of Deborah Hospital and was an active and devout parishioner at St .Catherine’s Catholic Church in Seaside Park.  She was kind, patient and generous.  She and her Irish soda bread will be greatly missed by all.

Regina is predeceased by her parents and her brother, Joseph Reilly.

Regina is survived by her husband of 60 years, Thomas Mooney; son, Thomas Mooney and his wife, Phyllis of Red Bank; sister, Dorothy Toal and her husband Hugh of Jackson; grandchildren Thomas “T.J.” Mooney, Cameo Mooney and Daniel Mooney; and many nieces and nephews.

A Committal service will take place at 10 a.m., Monday, Dec. 28, at Brigadier General William C. Doyle Memorial Cemetery, 350 Province Line Road, Wrightstown.

Condolences may be expressed to the family by visiting www.ryanfuneralhome.com.  Should friends desire, donations may be sent to the Deborah Hospital Foundation in her memory at www.deborahfoundation.org/donate.

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Peter Kealy

Peter Kealy died Dec. 10, 2020.

He was 79.

Born in Dublin, Ireland, he lived in Kearny for 60 years.

Arrangements were by the Armitage & Wiggins Funeral Home, Kearny. A funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Stephen’s Church, Kearny.

Peter served in the U.S. Air Force from 1961 to 1965.

Peter was the beloved husband of Eileen (nee O’Keefe) and loving father of Sharon (her husband Manny) Ferrao and David (his wife Angela) Kealy. He was the cherished grandfather of Victoria, Alex, Nick and Amanda.

In lieu of flowers, kindly consider a donation to St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

Nancy R. DAuria

Nancy R. D’Auria of Harrison died peacefully at home with her loving family beside her in the early morning of Dec. 17, 2020.

She was 90.

The funeral will be conducted from the Mulligan Funeral Home, 331 Cleveland Ave., Harrison, on Tuesday, Dec. 22 at 9:45 a.m. Friends and relatives may visit Tuesday after 8:45 a.m. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at Holy Cross Church, Harrison, at 10:30 a.m. Her interment will follow in Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington.

If you would like to send a condolence message to her family, please visit www.mulliganfh.com.

Born in Newark, Nancy resided in Kearny for many years prior to moving to Harrison in 1990.

Nancy was the loving daughter of the late Anthony and Elizabeth D’Auria. She is also survived by her beloved sister Pat and her husband, Joe Ruccatano, her nephews Anthony and his wife Laurie Ruccatano, Gary and his wife Stephanie and her late beloved niece, Christina Ruccatano; her great-nephews Anthony and his wife Iacobella, Alex, Billy, Haskel, Nicky and his wife Tiffany, and the late Joey Ruccatano; her great-niece Alissa and her husband Les Czapelski; her dear cousins, Petey Gassert and his wife Susan who helped to comfort Nancy so much in her final days and of which, will never be forgotten; Rocky Ruccatano, a great friend, neighbor, who was always there to help Nancy when needed. And last but not least, Nancy’s beautiful, great-grand-niece, Ryleigh Ruccatano.

Nancy earned a master’s degree from Rutgers University in Newark.  She was a retired executive secretary for the Henkel Corporation in Morristown, and for Raythenon Technologies in N.Y.C.

Nancy was an active member of the YMCA in Montclair, where she enjoyed swimming, dancing and yoga classes. In her spare time, she loved to read and listen to music.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to your favorite charity, in loving memory of Nancy.

Catherine H. Stier

Catherine H. Stier, a loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, died Dec. 17, 2020, after 91 beautiful years.

Born in Newark, she lived in Kearny for 87 years.

Arrangements are by the Armitage & Wiggins Funeral Home in Kearny. Her funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Stephen’s Church, Kearny, on Dec. 22 at 10 a.m.

She worked at New Jersey Boystown and Catholic Community Services until retiring in 1998.

She was married to her beloved husband John W. Stier for 63 years, who predeceased in 2017. Catherine was the loving mother of Carol Stier, John Stier and his wife Jane, Brian Stier and his wife the late Dianne, and Nancy Brobeck and her husband David. She was the grandmother of Jennifer, John Jr., Carolyn, Amy, Tammy, Brianna and Brian Jr. and the great-grandmother of Savannah.

Her greatest enjoyment was being with her family and grandchildren whom she loved dearly. Catherine was a wonderful mom who will be forever loved and never forgotten.

 

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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, a place where he has served on and off since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on Facebook Live, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to West Hudson to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.