O'NEILL, Maura Bernadette Stack
Passed from this earthly life Thursday, May 24, 2012 at Mercy Care Center in Oakland, California. She was surrounded by her family and went to join her husband of 59 years, Eugene Valentine 'Owen' O'Neill. She also joins her beloved brothers Bill and Jack Stack.
Maura was born in Tralee, Ireland in 1923, the eldest child of James and Elizabeth Stack. At 4, she traveled to this country with her family. She spent her early life in Queens, New York with her seven siblings. She enjoyed fashion and friends and a job at the New York Times.
A year-long trip to Ireland to visit relatives allowed her to meet and fall in love with Owen, a native of Tralee. Owen followed her back to America in 1950. They married and immediately started a family. The family migrated west to Fair Oaks, California in 1961. Maura enjoyed life in Fair Oaks. Maura relished in a community of friends built on the foundation of her six children, neighborhood and parish of St. Mel's. Maura cherished her bridge club time, long drives through Gold Country, reading, the color purple and scent of lavender. She enjoyed traveling in her later years to visit family, friends and the ocean.
Maura created a beautiful, thriving family that survives her today, including children: Deborah Beck (Jim), Peggy O'Neill, Maura Barrazza, Sheila O'Neill, Owen Patrick O'Neill (Jayne), Bill O'Neill (Nancy); grandchildren: Austin, Aileen, Timothy Beck, Liam, Michael and Peter Gallagher, Molly and Patrick Barrazza, Tara Costello, Mia and Sam Tosi, Liam O'Neill, and Maura Rose O'Neill; and her siblings: Austin Stack (Anita), Nan Natuzzi, Joan Holland, Pat Coles (Charlie), Nuala Wolosz.
A memorial service will be held June 11th at St. Mel's Cathedral in Fair Oaks. Rosary at 9 and Service at 10 a.m.
In lieu of flowers donations are welcome to the William Moore Stack Foundation, 351 Santa Fe Dr., Suite 220, Encinitas, CA 92024.
Published in The Sacramento Bee on June 4, 2012
