Obituary of Eileen Degnan Callaghan

EILEEN DEGNAN CALLAGHAN BELOVED MOTHER OF TWELVE CHILDREN, GRANDMOTHER OF THIRTY AND GREAT-GRANDMOTHER OF THIRTEEN Eileen Degnan Callaghan passed peacefully on May 1, 2015, surrounded by her loving family. Friends may call at the Codey & Jones Funeral Home, 54 Roseland Avenue, Caldwell, N.J. on Monday, May 4, 2015 between 4-8 pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Joseph's Church in West Orange on Tuesday, May 5, 2015 at 10:00 am. The interment will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, E. Hanover, NJ. To extend condolences or share a memory, please visit www.codeyjonesfh.com. Born in Orange, New Jersey to Dorothy and Bernard Degnan, Eileen was the oldest of eight children. She was raised in West Orange and attended Immaculate Conception High School in Montclair and graduated from The College of St. Elizabeth in 1945. She married her high school sweetheart, Harry Callaghan, that same year, and together they raised twelve children. Eileen was known for her calm, loving demeanor, her intellect, her passion for politics and her love of reading and music. She was always eager to discuss any topic of the day, and was rarely found without a book in her hands. An avid Democrat, she was an ardent supporter of equal rights in all areas, and an enormous help to her husband in his many successful political campaigns. She loved symphonic music and the opera, and the radio often served as a companion to her busy days. Eileen was enormously proud of her family, and she was deeply loved by all of them. She is predeceased by her beloved husband of 60 years, Harry Callaghan, her brother Daniel Degnan, S.J., son-in-law, Joseph Flanagan and by her loving companion of recent years, Francis Nolan. She is survived by her siblings: Patricia Regan, Dorothy Hunt, Bernard and Helen Degnan, Peter and Joan Degnan, Mary Flynn and Anne and Kenneth Kunzman, and by her twelve children: Mary Ellen Barrett, Kathleen and William Frese, Eileen Piazza, Elizabeth Flanagan, Daniel and Harlene Callaghan, Dorothy and Michael Gorman, Anne and Charles Gagliano, Patricia Callaghan, David and Colleen Callaghan, Sheila and Ronald Forenza, Joseph and Mary Callaghan and Margaret Callaghan. She is also survived by thirty grandchildren and thirteen great grandchildren In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Daniel A. Degnan, S.J. endowed scholarship c/o St. Peter's University, 2641 JFK Blvd. W., Jersey City, N.J. 07306,