Obituary of Angela ''Angie'' O'Keeffe

Angela “Angie” (DeRosa) O’Keeffe, a woman devoted to her family and her faith, passed away unexpectedly at the Lahey Hospital & Medical Center on Friday, January 26, 2018. The beloved wife of Jack O’Keeffe for 62 years, she was 86 years of age. Angie was born and raised in Medford, the daughter of the late John and Angelica (Palermo) DeRosa. Angie married the love of her life, Jack in 1955 and lived in Medford until they moved to Burlington in 1961. Before she started a family, she worked at Sunny Rose Foods, Standard Grocery, and the Hood Rubber Co. Angie devoted her life to raising her children and creating a warm and loving home for her family. Her values were simple yet profound; faith in God, love of family and service to others. Jack and Angie were always together; if you saw Angie, Jack was not far behind. Angie enjoyed a variety of social activities. She spent many years in a painting club where she created beautiful works of art in the early colonial style on wooden bread boards and other artifacts which her family treasures. In later years, she joined a book club with her cherished girlfriends from St. Margaret’s. She also volunteer for Hospice and made meals for the homebound elderly in Burlington, many of whom were her peers or were younger than she. Cooking was one of Angie’s passions. She learned to cook at an early age from her Italian born mother and many aunts and uncles. It was important for her to keep family traditions to pass them on to her children and grandchildren. Angie loved to cook and bake all kinds of foods but her best known specialties was her Italian dishes and her Irish Bread which many family members and friends enjoyed. One of the ways Angie expressed her love was through her food, and the abundance of it. When friends and family feasted at her house, it was always and act of love. Angie and Jack spent the past 21 summers at their summer home they built on Prince Edward Island. Every five years they would take part in a family reunion on the island with their American and Canadian Families. Angie and Jack extended their hospitality to everyone at their summer home. As with their home in Burlington, their summer home was a place of welcome and hospitality for all. Faith was central to Angie’s life and was the driving force in all that she and Jack did. Angie and Jack were extremely committed and involved in St. Margaret’s Parish life. They were always there to help families in time of need. For decades, the priests of St. Margaret’s were a fixture at family meals in the O’Keeffe home. Angie and Jack were part of a group of parishioners who founded the St. Margaret’s prayer group, the Bible Study, and were very involved in the First Friday Adoration. Angie taught Religious Education at St. Margaret’s and was a member of the church choir and Marriage Preparation Program for more than 30 years. She was a Eucharistic Minister and would visit parishioners who were home-bound to give them holy Communion. Every January, for over 35 years, they would travel to Washington D.C. to participate in the March for Life. In 2015 both Angie and Jack were recognized for their many years of ministry by the Holy Name Province of the Franciscan Order, where they were presented with the Province’s Francis Medal. Angie and Jack instilled their religious values in their children and grandchildren and were blessed to see them follow in their footsteps, all being involved in their Catholic Faith in some way. Angie and Jack enjoyed traveling to Europe, The Holy Land, and West Africa to see their son, and later on in life they cruised the Caribbean. All of these trips were enjoyed with either family or friends from the parish and they enjoyed a particular love of Italy. Angie was a proud Nonni to her five grandchildren. They brought great joy to her life. Nothing made Angie happier than spending time with Anne, Maggie, Michael, Ryan and Rebecca. Angie will be remembered for being a selfless woman who always put others needs before her own. Angie was the beloved wife of Jack O’Keeffe of 62 years. A loving mother she leaves behind her three children, her daughter Pam Walsh and her husband John of Atkinson, NH, her son Mark O’Keeffe and his wife Terry of Tyngsborough, MA, and her son Brother Paul O’Keeffe, OFM of Boston, MA. She was the very proud grandmother of Anne and Maggie Walsh and Michael, Ryan and Rebecca O’Keeffe. Sister of the late Nicholas J. DeRosa, Emma Hartigan and Joseph DeRosa. Funeral from the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn St., Burlington, MA (Exit 34 off Rt. 128/95 Woburn Side) on Friday, February 2 at 9 AM. Followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Margaret’s Church, 111 Winn St., Burlington, MA at 10 AM. Visiting hours on Thursday, February 1 from 4-8 PM. Internment at Pine Haven Cemetery, Burlington, MA. Memorials in Angie’s name may be made to Heartbeat, 113 Winn Street St., Burlington, MA 01803.