Obituary of Joan McSweeney

Joan Patricia McSweeney, a woman of faith, family and love of music passed away peacefully Tuesday afternoon, March 27th. She was 82 years old. Joan was born in Boston, the daughter of Irish immigrants from Kerry, Ireland, Joseph and Theresa Clifford. She grew up in Dorchester and was a graduate of Monsignor Ryan Memorial High School. She attended Burdett Business School. She had a strong Catholic faith and thought becoming a Catholic Nun was her way to serve her God. She entered the Missionary Order of Maryknoll. She went through the two-year process of discernment; spending time in the convent, attending retreats, speaking to nuns, and praying to determine if joining a religious order was how God wanted her to serve him. At the end of those two years, she decided she could serve in other ways. Several years later she met her husband Brian at a dance at the Irish American Club in Malden. That night they entered a dance contest and won! It was as if they were destined to be together. Brian and Joan were married in November of 1962 lived in Everett for a short period of time and then moved their family to Burlington in 1968. When Joan moved to Burlington, she found St. Margaret’s Church and became deeply involved in the parish. She was a longtime member of the choir. For 25 years she was an instructor/leader in the church’s marriage preparation classes “Pre Cana” with her husband. While teaching the classes she was so at ease talking about her faith, family experiences, and mentoring soon to be wed couples of the many realities of marriage and family life. As her children got older Joan began working for Wang Laboratories as an administrative assistant in the Human Resources Department. Joan was a woman who devoted herself to her family. She was the rock everyone leaned on throughout their lives. As a mother, she always placed her children first. She was there for them offering guidance, support, wisdom and her wonderful sense of humor. She was always on the sidelines cheering and supporting her husband and children as they intensely competed in various sporting activities. When her four grandchildren entered her life, Joan put aside her own daily routines to help care for them while their parents worked. Her “Gram Daycare” gave her a strong bond with each of her grandchildren that remained as they headed off to school. Joan also enjoyed her own interests and hobbies outside her home. She loved to sing and joined the Sweet Adeline’s Liberty Bell Chapter, Arlington, MA. She sang with them for decades and participated in local and national competitions. She loved the comradery and the thrill of performing. She was a member of the Burlington Beautification Committee for many years, making Burlington’s common and public spaces a bit more inviting with flowers and other plantings. She enjoyed working the polls for the local and national elections. It was a great opportunity to see old friends and neighbors as they came to vote. She was a longtime member of the St. Margaret’s Bowling League. In addition, Joan loved to read and had an extensive collection of books that she often lent out to family and friends. Joan had a full and complete life and loved to volunteer and help others in need. She always remained true to her faith, devoted to her family and friends, and active in her community. Joan was the beloved wife of 47 years of the late Brian J. McSweeney, Jr. She was the loving mother of Brian J. McSweeney, III & his wife Jennifer of Andover, Kevin M. McSweeney of Burlington, and Nancy A. Pastore & her husband Robert of North Reading. She was the proud “Gram” to Catherine and Brian J. McSweeney IV and John and Sarah Pastore. She was the caring sister of Eleanor Mangerian of Stoneham and Marilyn Walsh of Canton and the late John “Jack” Walsh. Sister-in-law of Richard Mangerian, Eugene “Terry” McSweeney and the late Barbara McSweeney, Kathleen Stanton, and the late Earl Stanton, Margaret & Edward Connolly, Mary & John Ricci. Funeral from the Edward V. Sullivan funeral home, 43 Winn Street, Burlington (exit 34 off Rt. 128/95, Woburn side) on Monday, April 2 at 9 a.m. Followed by a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Margaret’s Church, 111 Winn St., Burlington at 10 a.m. Interment in Pine Haven Cemetery, Burlington. Visiting hours Saturday, March 31 from 3-6 p.m. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited. In lieu of flowers, memorials in Joan’s name may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 309 Waverley Oaks Road, Waltham MA 02452. Family Remembrance by Nancy On behalf of our entire family I would like to thank everyone for all the support you have given my brothers Brian, Kevin and I. Whether it was a phone call, an email, text, food and flowers. We greatly appreciated everyone who attended the wake on Saturday and for all of you here today. I would especially like to thank Bishop Mark O’Connell who administered the last rites to my Mom last Sunday and would like to thank Fr. Francis Conroy for saying today’s funeral mass for my mom. Many thanks to the staff at the Blaire House. We are grateful that we all got a chance to see my mom in her final days and be able tell her how much we loved her and say good bye. I am honored to be here able to say a few words about my Mom. As you probably saw in the obituary that when my mom was in her early 20’s she felt that she was called to religious life and had joined the sisters of Maryknoll. During the process of discernment just under 2 years, my mom had decided that God had other plans for her and she returned back to Dorchester and began working at Boston Edison. Years later she met my Dad at a dance at the Irish American Club in Malden. They entered a dance contest that night and won it! They begin their courtship and a year later they got married and started a family. Those early years when they were married were challenging times but I truly admire my mom for having faith and standing by my Dad until he was able to get the AA program. Years later my parents participated as instructors in the pre-cana marriage prep program here at St. Margaret’s their talk to newly engaged couples was really unique because they talked about the challenges they faced early in their marriage and they were trying to prepare the couples for the reality that sometimes things in life are not going to go as planned but how having faith helped them get thru those difficult times. On occasion I will run into people who heard my parents give their “talk” at the marriage prep program and they tell me that they really got a lot out of it. As some of you may know today is my birthday! I would like to thank my mom giving me life and bringing me into this world. I feel so blessed to have a wonderful, supportive and loving Mom who has always been there for me and was a great role model for Brian, Kevin and I. I also want to thank my mom for giving us the gift of faith. I feel truly blessed to have received this gift and it has certainly helped me get thru some very difficult times over the course of my life. My mom was so supportive of each one of us. Anytime anyone needed anything she would drop whatever she was doing to help us out. She probably ended up helping me the most because after all I was the youngest and the only girl. Brian and I are so thankful that our mom was able to stay at home for as long as possible before going into the nursing home because Kevin did such a great job taking care of her. I am so glad that my mom got to see all four of her grandchildren be born and how lucky we were that she was able to take care of them during the day while we went to work. I felt so at ease knowing my kids were in such great care. She stressed the importance of talking a lot to newborns and how it helps them learn how to talk. I truly believe that part of my mom’s personality is in Catie, Brian the 4th, John and Sarah. It is too bad that my mom’s health started to decline and therefore she did not get to enjoy seeing her grandkids participate in their activities and sporting events. I think she would have gotten a kick out of knowing that Catie and John sing in the church choir since my mom loved music and sang here in the St. Margaret’s choir. My mom would have been so proud to see what great children Catie, Brian IV, John and Sarah are turning out to be. My mom tried to instill in us to be thankful for all that we have and to try and serve and help others in need. She felt if you have faith and your health you had everything. I loved my mom’s sense of humor and how she liked to have fun wherever she would go. She had some funny sayings which I often find myself saying them. I hope that I can be half as good of a mother as my mom was for Brian, Kevin and I. Ever since I was a little girl my mom talked about heaven and how she was just trying to live out her faith while she was on this earth. I find great comfort in knowing that if you could all keep my mom in your prayers she will be reunited with my Dad in heaven.