Obituaries

Catherine Boylan Joseph

Catherine Boylan Joseph

Catherine Boylan Joseph died peacefully in her sleep April 5 at Acadia Center in Riverhead. She was 98.

Catherine was born June 10, 1918, in Brooklyn to George and Gertrude Mary (Brogan) Boylan. She grew up in Mineola and spent many summers in Mattituck, fishing, boating and enjoying the North Fork.

Catherine graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts from Hofstra University and a Master of Arts from Adelphi University and continued her education at Fordham and Cornell. She was an English teacher for 25 years in the Garden City and Hempstead high schools.

Catherine had been published in Newsday and after becoming a certified poetry therapist, conducted workshops and lectures and went on to write poetry and articles for many Long Island newspapers. She was elected to “Who’s Who of American Women” in 1995 and had a long association with the Garden City branch of American University Women. She was also a member of the memorial unit of the American Legion Auxiliary.

Catherine moved to Southold to be near her daughter, Karen, and was a longtime resident of the Acadia Center, where she was beloved by the staff.

She is survived by her daughter, Karen, and her husband, Arnold Blair, of Cutchogue; her granddaughter Meredith Hudson and her husband, Cabell Hatfield, of New York City; her granddaughter Amanda Hudson of Marlboro, N.Y.; and two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren by marriage. Catherine was predeceased by her husband, William, a former major in the U.S. Army during World War II, her sisters, Mary and Rosemary, and her brother, George, who died serving his country in World War II.

Services were held at Coster-Heppner Funeral Home in Cutchogue. Interment followed at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Cutchogue, with a bagpiper to send her off in style.

Donations in Catherine’s memory may be made to Cutchogue New Suffolk Library.

 

Following is Catherine’s poem:

“Au Revoir”

Au Revoir sounds much less

final than Good-Bye. It

leaves the door open for

chance encounters, brief

meetings, surprise visits.

Exciting opportunities to

exchange pleasantries and

odd items of trivia. So

my departure will be just

that — fleeting. And

when you look up some

especially clear summer

evening and see one star

shining more brightly and

blinking at you…

It will be me.

–Catherine Joseph

This is a paid notice.