Mary Ellen McGroary

McGROARY- Mary Ellen, of East Atlantic Beach, NY. On October 20, 2020 in her 78th year. Predeceased by her loving parents, John and Annie Waters McGroary. Survived by her grieving family, brother Patrick J. McGroary and his wife Jean. Nieces KellyAnn Light-McGroary and her husband Timothy and their children Rosella Ann and Alexander Daniel. Tara McGroary and her children, Jake Patrick and Julia L., and her nephew Owen O'Shea. Also survived by four Godchildren Terri McGroary, KellyAnn Light - McGroary, Christopher S. McDermott and John Brennan McDermott. And many cousins and extended family in the U. S. and British Isles. Mary Ellen was a proud graduate of St. Mary Star of the Sea, and The Mary Louis Academy and Kaupert Business Institute. She had a 30-year Career at National Retail Merchants Association, leaving in 1990 as Sr. VP and Corporate Secretary, when NRMA changed its mission, became the National retail federation and relocated to Washington, DC. She then became a consultant to US Representative of the JUSCO Corporation of Japan. then investor in Talbots Specialty Stores, The Bombay Furniture Company and Laura Ashley. Mary Ellen joined the Girl Scouts of Greater NY in 1994 and took early retirement 10 years later. Mary Ellen served as Minister of the Eucharist for 20 years at her former Parish St. Joseph's in Hewlett, NY and participated in other outreach programs there, she served as a dedicated, long-time member of St. Mary Star of the Sea Alumni Association . Mary Ellen was a parishioner at St. Ignatius Martyr in Long Beach, a Eucharistic Minister there and a member of the Rosary and Altar Society. She was also a member of the Long Beach Veteran's Assn., via VFW Post 1384, and the Long Beach Young at Heart Club. She loved being in a beach community again, after growing up in the Rockaways and then spending 34 years in the Gibson section of Valley stream where she owned a home until 2014 and moved to East Atlantic Beach. Charitable donations in Mary Ellen's memory gratefully accepted for St. Francis Breadline, Church of St. Francis Assisi, 144 West 32nd St., New York, NY 10001, the FDNY Foundation, 9 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201, Attn: Executive Director, or The Mary Louis Academy 176-21 Wexford Terrace, Jamaica Estates, NY 11432, Attn: Director of Advancement Mass of the Resurrection on Thursday October 22nd at 10:00 AM St. Ignatius Martyr RC Church Long Beach, NY. Interment OF cremains will be held privately at a later date. Funeral arrangements entrusted to the Christopher T, Jordan Funeral Home 302 Long Beach Road, Island park, NY, wwwjordanfh.com