Obituary of Mary Nolan

Mary “Mae” M. (Dennehy) Nolan passed away at the Wachusett Manor Nursing Facility in Gardner on Tuesday night, July 8, 2008. She was 97 years old. Mae was born in Somerville, the daughter of the late Joseph and Mary Dennehy. She grew up in the Magoon Square section of Somerville. She had retired from New England Telephone where she worked as a supervisor. She had previously worked at MITRE, Honeywell, and Lexington System Development. Mae had been a resident of Burlington since 1950. Her interests included bingo, playing cards, reading, and watching movies. Mae was extremely proud of her family. She was married for 34 years to late husband, Joseph, who passed away in 1970. She had a wonderful relationship with her siblings, especially with her sister Rita, who she had lived with for many years. She was extremely proud of her grandchildren. Mae was blessed to have been able to see her third great grandchild, James, who is only 2 weeks old. Mae was the beloved wife of late Joseph G. Nolan. She was the loving mother of James Nolan & his wife Judith of Pepperell. She was the sister of Louise Poole of Medford, Doris Van Bruggen of VA, the late Elizabeth Downey, Rita White, Helen Price, and Joseph Dennehy. She was the devoted grandmother of Tracy McEvoy of Leominster, Julie Holly of Winchendon, and James Jr. of Ashby and great grandmother of Taryn Holly, Ruben Holly, & James Henry Nolan. Funeral from the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn St., BURLINGTON (exit 34 off Rt. 128, Woburn side) on Saturday, July 12 at 9 a.m. Followed by a Mass of Christian Burial in St.. Margaret’s Church, 111 Winn Street, Burlington, at 10 a.m. Visiting hours Friday 4-8 p.m. Interment in Chestnut Hill Cemetery, Burlington. Memorials in Mae’s name may be made to the K of C Exceptional Children’s Fund, P.O. Box 25, Burlington, MA 01803. Words of Remembrance by Bob Wilkie Mae Nolan I remember when the Nolan family first moved to Burlington over 50 years ago. They had a big ranch on top of Arthur Woods Avenue. I used to think it was the longest house I ever saw. Many of her extended family remember the Xmas parties at her house where she used to play the piano. I used to hang around with Mae’s son Jim and what I remember most about Mae was she was always dressed impeccability and she was a refined lady even when she was down on her knees laying cinder block when they were building their home. After the Nolan’s moved out of Arthur Woods Avenue they bought a home on 3A and her and Rita White (Sister and Mil) opened the RitaMae Shoe Store. They were trying to outdo Imelda Marcos by seeing how many pairs of shoes they could own. After Mae’s husband passed away she moved in with my in-laws Rita and Babe White. I saw a lot of Mae then and as many of you know I am a storyteller. We used to tell each other stories and some of them you couldn’t tell in church. My perception of Mae was that she was a disciplinarian and talking with some of the family, I was right. Whenever her grandkids came to see her she would tell them that her things were no touches. Their other grand mother let them do anything and she used to say that she was the crabby grandmother. Mae and some of her siblings used to work for a company called Dad’s Cookies. Her sister Elizabeth’s husband was trying to get to Elizabeth and was having difficulty so he took Mae out to get to Elizabeth. Well they got on a train going the wrong way and she was a couple of hours late. Her mother gave them the devil. The disciplinarian apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Mae would be visited by her grandkids, which she treasured and when they were leaving, she would casually ask so where are you going to play Keno and drink beer? Now I get a kick out of the because when she was at Birchcrest she and one of her friends would say they had doctor appointments and so to Foxwoods. Mae liked to gamble. In fact I think it runs in the family. Between bingo, Foxwoods, poker and Keno she was always up for a game and she very good. Ask some of the guys at the Burlington Senior Center id she took a lot of money from them. Mae was also an avid Red Sox fan. If you ever watched a game with her she would yell at the players thru the TV. Big Papi was her favorite. But during her life she touched all the bases. As many of you know Mae was not a cook and in fact she hated to cook. I remember taking her and Aunt Louise out to an Italian restaurant because I had been given a gift certificate. After the meal I said “Would you life dessert or anything else” because I had plenty of money still left on the gift certificate. They ordered another meal to go. So they wouldn’t have to cook. Now you know how Italians pride themselves in their cooking. Mike Luongo who would play with Mae’s son Jim when they lived in Medford, would go into Mae’s house for something to eat. When he went home he raved to his mother about the pasta dinner that Mae had cooked. When this happened a second time, he went home and told his mother again. So she called Mae up to find out what her recipe was for the pasta. She said she threw a couple of cans of Chef Boyardee in a pan with some Catsup and fed the boys. Mike got the biggest cuff up side the head from his mother. In closing Mae was a treasure and was loved by many, from her grandkids, to her extended family and many residents at the Senior Center. I know my kids and Jack and Pat White’s kids, used to look up to her as a Step-Grandmother. Whenever my wife and I visited Mae she would always, always talk about how proud she was of her Grand children