Letitia "Tish" Boro

Beloved Letitia "Tish" Marie Boro (née O'Connor), 90, of Middletown, New Jersey, passed away on Monday, June 2, 2025, following a brief illness at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, New Jersey. True to her given name, which means "joy" in Latin, Tish had a long, joyful life and was deeply loved by, and devoted to her husbands, siblings, friends, stepchildren, nieces, nephews, and all the generations that followed.
Born on August 29, 1934, in Yankton, South Dakota to Joseph Jeffrey and Marie Frances O'Connor (née Bourdelais) and raised in Vermillion, Tish was the fifth of seven siblings in a proud, hard-working family of Irish and French-Canadian descent. Following middle school years in Sioux City, Iowa caring for her grandmother, Tish graduated from Mount Marty School in Yankton. She then travelled to Los Angeles, California, where she helped her elder sister care for her children and briefly attended community college. She then returned home to attend the University of South Dakota. While enrolled, she changed her major from music to nursing and transferred to Creighton Memorial St. Joseph's Hospital School of Nursing in Omaha, Nebraska earning a Registered Nurse credential.
Tish had a storied, forty-plus year nursing career serving various hospitals and locales. Her career began at St. Joseph's Hospital School of Nursing where she was quickly promoted to head nurse of the cardiac ward. Following a move to New Jersey, she worked as Assistant Director of Nursing at Riverview Hospital in Red Bank, NJ, pausing to prioritize care for her first husband, then fighting cancer. She later served as Nurse Recruiter for The Ann May School of Nursing at Fitkin Hospital, now Jersey Shore University Medical Center. In retirement, she worked at Health Net, supporting nurse managers as a runner.
Tish enjoyed domestic and international travel, evenings of fine cuisine and wine, reading, current affairs, and deepening her understanding of her faith. In retirement, she developed a love of watercolor painting. She was eagerly welcomed wherever she traveled and an impeccable host to the many family members and friends from around the world who wanted quality time with her in her beloved Monmouth County, New Jersey.
Tish considered herself incredibly fortunate to have found two steadfast loves in her life. Her relationship with her first husband, Ron, was sparked over rounds of golf in Omaha, and they married in 1972. Ron went on to become a legendary member of the Religious Studies faculty at Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, NJ, passing away in 1986. In the years following Ron's death, the CBA community surrounded Tish with such strong, unwavering support that, years later, she found love again-marrying Ed, a former CBA parent whose family loved and respected Ron-in September 2013. Ed sadly passed away in June 2024.
Tish is preceded in death by her first husband, Ronald Edward Boro, and her second husband, Edward Joseph Joyce, sister Margaret Fortin, brothers David O'Connor, and Willard O'Connor, nieces Michelle Fortin and Annette Sorlie, and step-granddaughter Brittany Joyce.
She is survived by her siblings: Catherine Danielson of Rapid City, SD; Suzanne Sorheim of Gillette, WY; Judith Shannon and her husband, Robert, of Modesto, CA; and her brother-in-law, John Senechal of Tolland, CT. She is also survived by her stepchildren: Edward Joyce and his wife, Linda Gerstel, of New York City, NY; Bob Joyce and his wife, Sharon, of Newtown, PA; Charlie Joyce of Farmingdale, NJ; and Carol Lyons and her husband, Steve, of Holmdel, NJ. Additionally, she leaves behind eleven step-grandchildren and twenty-two nieces and nephews-two of whom proudly carry on her name.
Family and friends are invited to gather for a viewing on Monday, June 23, 2025, from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM, at the Holmdel Funeral Home, 26 South Holmdel Road, Holmdel, NJ 07733.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at 10:00 AM at St. Benedict's Roman Catholic Church, 165 Bethany Road, Holmdel, NJ 07733.
Entombment will follow in the mausoleum at Mount Olivet Cemetery, 100 Chapel Hill Road, Middletown, NJ 07701.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Letitia's name to the Francis House of Prayer, 84 Walnford Road, Allentown, NJ, 08501.