Patricia J. Connolly

Patricia James Connolly, age 90, beloved matriarch, fashionista, entertainer extraordinary and ever-coveted party guest, a/k/a The Management, headed off to her next soirée on July 7, 2019. Born Julia Patricia James on February 8, 1929, Pat grew up in Woodlawn, The Bronx, and Fairfield, Connecticut, with her parents, three younger brothers and a large and loving extended family, including her 52 first cousins. Pat was a woman ahead of her time, not only the first woman but the first person in her family to earn a college degree, graduating from Marymount College in Tarrytown in the early 1950s with a major in Economics. Always interested in fashion, she started her career as a sales girl at Lord & Taylor’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue, ultimately rising to be a Senior Buyer, a position then occupied exclusively by men. Marrying in her late 20s, Pat’s trailblazing first career gave way to her second, and the defining one of her life: starting a family of her own as mother and grandmother to six children and 15 grandchildren, in each of whom she instilled the importance of family and huge measures of faith and fun. From their first home in Bronxville, the family moved to Glen Rock in the late 1950s and to Ridgewood in 1970. Preceded to the next big family gathering by her parents and her brothers, among many others, Pat is survived by her son Paul and daughter-in-law Patti, son Michael and daughter-in-law Julie, son Jay and daughter-in-law Laurie, daughter Suzanne and son-in-law Jim, son Marc and daughter-in-law Stephanie, and daughter Meaghan and son-in-law Fatih, as well as her grandchildren, Jamie, Peter, Sheila, Caroline, Kristen, Jack, Liam, Maggie, Teddy, Tommy, Declan, Julia, Lilly, Ronan and Kieran, and numerous well-loved nieces and nephews. Pat’s wake will be held at Feeney Funeral Home in Ridgewood from 6-8pm on July 9th, 2019, and her funeral mass will be celebrated at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Ridgewood at 9:30am on July 10th, 2019. In preference over flowers, donations in Pat’s name to the Little Sisters of the Poor, 140 Shepherd Lane, Totowa, New Jersey 07512 (http://www.littlesistersofthepoortotowa.org/) would be greatly appreciated.