Mary P. O'Hagan

O'HAGAN - Mary P., of Syosset, died on October 29, 2008. Ms. O'Hagan was born in 1920, to Patrick J. O'Hagan and Mary McNamara O'Hagan. She graduated from St. Dominic's High School, received her B.A. in Sociology from The College of New Rochelle, and her Masters of Social Work from Fordham University. Mary O'Hagan began her career as a social worker with Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Brooklyn, and after its formation, the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Initially she was the agency's only social worker, for both Nassau and Suffolk counties. She then worked for twenty-three years for the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) in Suffolk County, serving as the School Social Work Supervisor. Upon retirement, she formed O'Hagan, Cleary & Smith, providing support services for employees of small and mid-level companies. Ms. O'Hagan, a pioneer in the concepts of senior and intergenerational day care, was a founder and board member of the Senior Day Care Center in Syosset and helped launch Day Haven Adult Day Services, an intergenerational, day care center founded by the Community Programs Center of Long Island. She served on the Center's Board of Directors, and was honored for "outstanding service to frail older adults and family caregivers." Since 1994, Ms. O'Hagan volunteered with the HIP Hospital Visitation Program and regularly visited patients at Syosset Hospital as part of the program's effort to foster healing. At St. Edward the Confessor RC Church, Ms. O'Hagan served on the Parish Council and as a Eucharistic Minister. The College of New Rochelle awarded her the Angela Merici Medal as an "outstanding alumna who has demonstrated exceptional loyalty to Church and College and distinctive achievement in her career." In 2008 Ms. O'Hagan was recognized by Bishop Thomas Murphy with the Diocesan St. Agnes Medal for distinguished service to the Roman Catholic Church. The Bishop's citation described her as a "thoughtful, warm, gracious, and kind woman." She leaves behind her sister, Sarah "Sally" Fisher of Syosset; two nieces, Mary-Christy Fisher (Harold Hongju Koh) of New Haven, CT, and Jane J. Fisher (Pierluigi Consagra) of New York City; a nephew, William E. Fisher III (Marian Morrill) of New York City; four grandnieces and a grandnephew. A wake will be held on Sunday, November 2, 2008, from 2-4 and 7-9pm, at Beney's Funeral Home, 79 Berry Hill Road, Syosset, NY. Her Funeral Mass will be offered at 10:00am on Monday, November 3, 2008, at St. Edward the Confessor Church in Syosset, NY. In lieu of flowers, her family reqests that donations be made to St. Edward the Confessor Church or to The College of New Rochelle.