Catherine Marie Reagan
June 27, 1921 - December 01, 2017
Funeral services celebrating the life of Catherine M. Reagan, 96, of Newark, will be held at the Armitage Wiggins Funeral Home, 596 Belgrove Drive, Kearny, NJ on Friday October 19, 2018 from 4 until 6 pm. Funeral Mass will be Saturday, October 20, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. in Holy Cross Church in Harrison, NJ, followed by inurnment in Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington, NJ.
Catherine died at the SharonBrooke Senior Center on Friday, December 1, 2017. She was born in East Orange, NJ, on June 27, 1921 to the late Daniel and Catherine (Callery) Burke. She was known to all by her middle name, “Marie” to distinguish her from her Mother of the same name!
Marie Burke graduated from East Orange High School in 1939 and from Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School in New York City shortly thereafter. She met James Reagan when both worked for the Erie Lackawanna Railroad. They married in Holy Cross Catholic Church in Harrison, NJ on June 1, 1946. Marie and Jim had two daughters in Harrison and three sons after moving to Cleveland, Ohio in 1951.
Marie’s shared faith life with her husband Jim was at the heart of their long, loving, and mutually respectful marriage. It was also at the core of her role as mother. That faith life, in combination with Marie’s innate hopefulness and confidence in life’s goodness, allowed her to raise her children as if each was the most special and precious of God’s gifts. She used her advanced managerial skills throughout her life in support of her husband, her children, and her church, in many important and diverse endeavors.
In 1980 she and Jim moved to Calabash, NC, where they enjoyed an active retirement for 20 years. They made many new friends, golfed, hosted family - children, grandchildren, their brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews - in that beautiful seaside area. They enjoyed traveling - once to Ireland and multiple times across the U.S. Marie and Jim took particular satisfaction in co-founding St. Brendan the Navigator Catholic Parish in Shallotte, NC., and making a life-long friend in Fr. John Richardson. In 2001 Marie and Jim returned to Ohio to live close to youngest son John and his family in Newark, OH.
Marie was a smart, engaging, resilient, generous, kind, and life-affirming person. Her children and their families revere her. Marie took traditional marriage vows toward Jim and lived over 71 years exceeding them! They went together through life and she held him close.
She is survived by husband Jim Reagan; their five children, Catherine Reagan, Judith (Richard) Warner, James (Elizabeth) Reagan, Daniel (Catherine Little) Reagan, and John (Catherine) Reagan; six grandchildren, Ben (Leticia) Warner, Judith (Tyler) Williams, David Reagan, Mary Catherine Reagan, Andrew Reagan, and Jane Reagan; one great grandchild Nolan James Warner; sister-in-law Helen (Varley) Burke; nephews Daniel (Lisa) and Patrick Burke; Reagan brothers- and sisters-in law Eileen, Charles (Cathy), Laurence (Joan), Violetta (Thomas) French, and Robert (Carole).
In addition to her parents, Marie was preceded in death by brother, Daniel Burke; niece Catherine Burke; uncles Bernard and Joseph Callery; daughter-in-law Susan Newby Reagan; and Reagan brothers- and sisters-in law Thomas (Sonia) Reagan, Catherine Reagan, Mary (Tom) Price, Claire Reagan, Eleanor (Tom) McGarril, and John Reagan.
Our family offers special thanks to all the kind, attentive, and nurturing people from Home Instead Senior Care, SharonBrooke Senior Living Center, Heartland Hospice, and St. Francis de Sales church who ministered to and lovingly cared for Marie. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Marie to Heartland Hospice 6500 Busch Blvd. Suite 210, Columbus, Ohio 43229.