Obituary of Doreen M. O'Sullivan

Doreen M. O'Sullivan Faithful ~ Kind ~ Generous October 29, 1918 - September 3, 2009 Doreen Mary O'Sullivan was born and baptized as Dorothy Mary, in Jamaica, NY on October 29, 1918. She passed away in her sleep at the age of 90 on September 3, 2009. A loving, devoted daughter, sister, aunt, and godmother to many, Doreen was the eldest of four children born to Daniel O'Sullivan and Dorothy Harford '" both immigrants from Ireland. In celebration of Doreen, her life, and legacy, a funeral mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at the lower church at St. Joan of Arc Church, at 81st St. and 35th Ave., in Jackson Heights, NY. Doreen's family will host a reception in the library at The Community Church, across the street between 81st and 82nd Streets, from 11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m., and interment of Doreen's ashes is planned at 1:30 p.m. at her family's burial lot at St. John's Cemetery [No. 38, Section 27, Range M], in Middle Village, Queens. Doreen was preceded in death by her brothers, Denis, Donal, and Kieran, and is survived by 6 nieces, 10 nephews, 5 grandnieces, and 10 grandnephews. Doreen's brother Denis had 5 children: Dan, who has a daughter, Quinn; Bart, Tim, John, and Claire, who has a daughter, Kailey Young. Donal had 2 children: Regina (Gwiazdowski) [who has two sons, Brian and Kevin], and Barry [who has a daughter, Megan, and two sons, Ryan and Daniel] Kieran had nine children: Rez [who has a son, Quinn Greenwood, and a daughter Shea], Donal (deceased), Doreen, Denis, Anne, Katie (Pittman) [who has a son, Ryan, and daughter, Rachel], Kieran [who has two sons, Donal and Kieran], Sean [who has a daughter, Charlotte, and a son Sean Mathias], and Christopher. A life-long resident of Queens in New York City, Doreen was a devoted member of St. Joan of Arc Parish where she was active in the 1st Community Catechumen Group and served as a Eucharistic Minister for elderly, sick, and shut-ins for the parish community for nearly 20 years after her retirement. She was also a member of the Irish Association, and was an avid reader and Scrabble player. Doreen moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee in 2002, where she became a resident at Alexian Village, a continuing care community, where she lived for 7 years (with the support of the dedicated staff at Alexian Inn, Alexian Valley Residence, and Alexian Health Care Center) until she passed away. A funeral mass in her memory was offered at Alexian Valley Residence by Father Joseph on September 4. Doreen attended Mount Saint Vincent College in Riverdale, NY from 193-1941, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Commerce Education. She attended high school at St. Agnes Academy in College Point from 1932-1936, and St. Bartholomew's Elementary School in Elmhurst from 1924-1932. Professionally, Doreen's work was socially driven. After graduating from college during WWII, Doreen served as a stenographer for the War Department at the Corps of Engineers from 1942-1945. A year after the war ended (in 1946), Doreen was part of the start-up of Integrity, a subscriber-based magazine founded by Catholic lay people dedicated to the task of discovering a new synthesis between religion and daily life. The mission of Integrity was to rouse lay people in the Catholic Church to a sense of apostolic responsibility, and to awaken them to the fact that unwittingly they were worshiping false idols of the world -- money, success, etc. Doreen worked as a foundational staff person at Integrity for the ten year duration of the publication, from 1946 to 1956, where she served as the secretary and office manager assisting the editors with proofreading and lay out of the magazine, supervised volunteers and staff, and managed subscriptions, mailing, and promotions for the monthly publication. Integrity suspended publication due to financial constraints and an editorial deadlock as to what the future of the magazine should be in a rapidly changing world. After Integrity ceased its operations in 1956, Doreen went to work as Secretary for the Associate Executive Director at United Service Organization (USO) until 1960. At the USO, Doreen handled large volumes of mail and correspondence from member organizations and overseas USO clubs, and assisted in setting up meetings and planning itineraries. To advance her literary career, Doreen went to work as a secretary for Health Insurance Plan, Inc., where she assisted writers and editors in the production of a quarterly bulletin for a year before taking a position with Catholic Youth Encyclopedia as a production assistant to its Managing Editor. Doreen worked there for two years processing manuscripts for the publisher and managing the copy flow for articles. Doreen left her job for personal reasons so that she could assist with the care of her brother's children at a time of need. From 1965-1968, Doreen worked as an executive secretary for Le Play Research, a sociological research group where she was also responsible for bookkeeping, preparing manuscripts, transcribing tapes, assembling statistics, and preparing meeting minutes and other correspondence. In 1968, Doreen took a job with the City of New York as a secretary at Mount Sinai Hospital in Elmhurst so that she could be close to home to care for her aging mother. Doreen served to assist technicians in the pathology area and doctors specializing in pulmonary care at Mount Sinai until her retirement in 1983. Those who knew and loved Doreen will always remember her integrity, her faithfulness, her quiet humble manner, her kindness, her compassion, her playfulness, and her selfless generosity. Personal memories and condolences may shared at www.legacyfuneralhome.com Doreen Mary O'Sullivan passed away at approximately 12:45 a.m. on Thursday, September 3, 2009. In celebration of Doreen, her life, and legacy, a funeral mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at the lower church at St. Joan of Arc Church, at 81st St. and 35th Ave., in Jackson Heights, NY. Doreen's family will host a reception in the library at The Community Church, across the street between 81st and 82nd Streets, from 11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m., and interment of Doreen's ashes is planned at 1:30 p.m. at her family's burial lot at St. John's Cemetery [No. 38, Section 27, Range M], in Middle Village, Queens.