Eileen L. Haggerty
Eileen L. Haggerty, born Oct. 3, 1921, in Flushing, N.Y., to parents John and Loretta Moriarty, passed away peacefully on Sunday, Sept. 6, 2020, surrounded by family in Greenport, N.Y., and virtually in Georgia, Massachusetts and New York, as well as in the loving care of staff and friends of Peconic Landing continuing care retirement community in Greenport.
Eileen was raised in Astoria, N.Y., along with her sibling, Jack Moriarty, whom she lost tragically to a car accident in 1939. She graduated from Julia Richman High School in Manhattan along with classmate and friend Lauren Bacall and always had a great love of movies and music, studying piano from an early age (played “The Blue Danube” by heart). She met her future husband, Charles J. Haggerty (“Charlie”) on a double date with the “other guy.” She and Charlie soon married in January 1944, right before he left for service in World War II as a B-24 flyer of 50 missions in the European theater. During that time, she worked at the Federal Reserve Bank in Manhattan until starting a family in the Veterans Projects in Jackson Heights, N.Y., after the war.
Following more than five years in the Veterans Projects in Jackson Heights, the family moved to Floral Park, N.Y. She also worked for many years at Abraham and Straus Department Stores in Garden City, N.Y., and Hempstead, N.Y., while at the same time involving her children in school and community activities to enrich their lives. Eileen and her family spent parts of every summer on the North Fork of Eastern Long Island and moved permanently in 1977 to Orient Point, N.Y., on the street they described as “the last left-hand turn before France.” Eileen entered Peconic Landing in Greenport as one of its first residents in 2003, at the time of Charlie’s passing.
She loved golf at Island’s End Golf Course (especially the 16th hole, where she always hoped to get a hole-in-one) and everything about the North Fork. She also loved to swim, go on outings and enjoyed boat rides and water-skiing (even slalom). Her favorite card game was double solitaire and she would always encourage other players to join in. Of course, she also enjoyed a double each evening with Charlie as well as with their dear friends Ed and Doris Linker and family. In her later years, she avidly played “Words With Friends” on her iPad — her 90-year-old birthday gift!
Surviving children are John (“Jack”) and wife Susan and their sons, Michael and David; Dennis and wife Sonia and their children, Thomas, Martin and Jacqueline; Eileen and husband Tony and their children, Anthony, Brian and Dana; and Patricia and wife Shelley and their children, David and Alexandra. Also surviving are the grandchildren’s spouses and nine great-grandchildren who came to know and love their “Nana/GG,” and many loving nieces and nephews.
Eileen leaves both a legacy of love and laughter and noteworthy instruction to all her family and friends to always first love themselves in order to be able to share their love and talents with others. She wanted NO wake and only a Mass at St. Agnes R.C. Church in Greenport Friday, Sept. 11, at 11 a.m., which will be limited to 66 congregants due to the need for social distancing. Burial will be after the Mass at Calverton National Cemetery with her husband, Charlie. Due to strict social distancing requirements, the burial will be attended only by immediate family members. Similarly, there will be no repast or gathering after the interment.
Arrangements were entrusted to Coster-Heppner Funeral Home in Cutchogue.
To honor her memory and wishes, charitable donations can be made to St. Agnes R.C. Church, 523 Front St., Greenport, NY 11944. She would also love (as she would say, “Listen to what I’m saying!”), if you prefer, to send something edible, like cookies or pastries, a tray, a box or a package, or whatever you can, no matter the size, to the direct caregivers at Peconic Landing, with a simple note with your name and reference that “This is from Mrs. Haggerty!” She’ll be smiling! Address to: Peconic Landing Retirement Community, Attn: Caregivers at The Shores, 1600 Brecknock Road, Greenport, NY 11944.
This is a paid notice.
