Charles Edward McQuillan

1937 - 2021

Charles Edward McQuillan
05/11/1937 - 04/28/2021
Charles Edward McQuillan was called home to the Lord on April 28, 2021, and rejoined the love of his life, Marlene Ida (Seyerlein) McQuillan, who passed 3 weeks earlier, both after contracting the Covid-19 virus.
Charles was born on May 11, 1937 in Staten Island, New York to his loving and devoted parents Frances Josephine and Charles Edward McQuillan. Charles was the first born of 4 children, Mary Jo, Cornelius (Neil), and Anne Marie. He was raised on Targee Street in the Stapleton section of Staten Island. "Charlie", as he was known, grew up surrounded by a very large extended family as Frances and Charles Sr. came from very large European families who emigrated from Europe, Italy and Ireland respectively. As Charles' mother was a working mom, he was raised in large part by his Nonni (grandmother) who adored Charlie and later his bride, Marlene, who she happily taught the finer points of cooking Sicilian food.
Charles was a graduate of Cardinal Hayes Hill High School in the Bronx where he excelled in academics and found a second home. He commuted two hours twice daily to the Bronx from Staten Island on a bus, ferry and subway to get to school. It was typical of Charles to take on tough tasks, excel and never complain. After graduation he was drafted into the US Army where he served until 1963. Afterwards, Charlie briefly attended Fordham University and then went to work as his father fell ill with hepatitis which necessitated Charlie's need to bring in income to support the family. While working on a project at General Adjustment Bureau he met his life-long love, Marlene.
Charles married Marlene on September 6, 1958 at St. Pancras Church in Glendale, New York
On November 28, 1960, Edward Charles was born. Two years later, Maureen Louise was born followed by Kevin Patrick in 1965, Thomas William in 1966 and Robert Gerard in 1971.
Charlie was a member of the local Sheet Metal Workers Union for most of his career. He worked for several shops and in the 1970's opened McKay enclosures which was a fabricator of sheet metal into air conditioning ducts. Charlie had an entrepreneurial spirit his whole life and at one point owned a cabinet making business, a kitchen and bathroom remodeling and most recently was a successful real estate broker in Bushkill Falls where he resided for the past 20 years.
In 1966 Marlene and Charlie moved to Rockland County. Charlie was an active member of St. Boniface Parish in Monsey, New York where he helped fundraise and build the current church structure. The St. Boniface parish family was a second family to Charlie. He served on the parish council many times and was Chairperson three times over the 34 years that he was part of the parish. Charlie was also very active in the community. He was a founding member and served as initial President of Monsey Little League Baseball and also was actively involved in town politics. When Charlie and Marlene decided to move to Tamiment, Pennsylvania, the town board of Wesley Hills installed a gazebo in Charlie's honor. That gazebo stands today in Willow Tree Park as a commemoration to his many decades of service to the community.
After moving to Bushkill Falls twenty years ago, Charlie and Marlene were active members of the St. John the Roman Catholic Church in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Charlie joined the Knights of Columbus where he elevated his status to Grand Knight. Charlie was proud of his membership in the "Knights" and was grateful for all their support and fellowship. Charlie saw this as a highlight in his life as acting as a protector of the faith, a responsibility he took seriously for the Church he loved so much.
Our families would like to offer a special thanks to the doctors, nurses, physicians assistants and staff at the Lehigh Valley Medical Center and St. Clare's Hospital in Dover, New Jersey for their tireless efforts to try to save his life and for all their work to bring Charles and Marlene comfort during this difficult time.
Charlie (Papa) is survived by his 5 children and their loving spouses Milana, Donald, Amanda, Meg and MaryAnn and his 9 adoring grandchildren: Patrick, Megan, Annabel, Kate, Genevieve, Thomas, Luke, Edward and Charles.
In lieu of flowers, you can make a donation to Charlie & Marlene's grandson's charity that raise funds to support teens battling life threatening diseases at Yale / New Haven Hospital at www.givetoynhh.org/lukesfundraiser.
A Mass of Christian burial to celebrate both Charles and Marlene McQuillan's life will take place on Friday, May 21, 2021 at 10:00am at St. Boniface Church in Monsey, New York. Interment will take place at Ascension Cemetery in Airmont, New York immediately following.