Anita McCloskey

1926 - 2020

Anita McCloskey

Naples - Anita McCloskey, aged 93, died on July 13, 2020, in Naples, Florida.

Anita was born Anita Isabel Morales in Philadelphia, PA in 1926 to Frances Sweeney and Antonio Morales. She was an honor student who won a scholarship to study English at Immaculata College, where she worked for the college newspaper. She began her master's degree at the University of Pennsylvania and taught high school English. In 1948, Anita married Jack McCloskey and became a full-time mother for several years, raising six children with love and devotion. She was an only child who had always wanted a big family, and she often said that her children were her greatest joy.

When she and Jack divorced in 1976, Anita returned to her love of words and took a job as a reporter and photographer at the Lake Oswego Review in Lake Oswego, Oregon. She worked there until moving back to Ocean City, New Jersey in the mid-1980s to care for her ageing parents.

While in Ocean City, she reconnected with Howard Aurelius, an old friend and neighbor from the Philadelphia area. Howard had been widowed, and Anita and Howard spent 27 very happy years together until Howard's death in 2012.

Anita was known throughout her life for her vibrant, fun-loving, and generous nature. She loved the world and discovering new people and places. She celebrated life and found adventure in its most ordinary aspects. When her children were growing up, her house was always open to their friends, whom she welcomed with curiosity and warmth. As a single mother in Lake Oswego, she often hosted Sunday dinners and included people she might not have known well but who she knew were in need of company and good cheer. This instinctive kindness never left her.

She was also known for her prowess at the bridge table (she was a Life Master), and for her love of swimming. Until she was 92 and could no longer go to the pool, she could be seen swimming every morning at the Glenview in Naples, Florida, where she enjoyed the last several years of her life.

She is survived by her six children and their spouses - Mike of Lake Oswego, OR, Steve of Winston-Salem, NC, Robin and her husband Casey Hartman of Redwood City, CA, John and his wife Sarah of Beaverton, OR, Roman and his wife Gina of Portland, OR, and Molly of Washington, DC - along with seven grandchildren (Meghan, Christyn, Caitlin, Isaac, Dawit, Margaux, Sylvie) and four great-grandchildren (Evie, Maddox, Jack, Wesley).

Because of restrictions on gatherings due to the Covid pandemic, there will not be a memorial service at this time. Anyone wishing to honor Anita's memory may make a donation to Sacred Heart School (1739 Ferry Ave, Camden, NJ 08104), which Anita long supported.

Anita's children would like to express our deep appreciation to the staff of the Glenview and Premier Place for caring so tenderly for our mother, especially during the last year of her life. We will be forever grateful.