Maylene D. Hyland

Maylene Hyland, born on November 11, 1931, died on September 11, 2024, at exactly 92 years and 10 months old. Maylene never fully recovered after a bad fall in October 2022 when she broke two bones in her neck. Maylene was born to Clayton and Evelyn in Brooklyn, New York. She had one brother, Bernard who died at the age of 57.

She is survived by her ex-husband John Hyland, seven children, Linda Hyland, Anne (Ronald) Bruni, John (Dawn) Hyland, Jr., Willam Hyland, Joseph (Kathy) Hyland, Jean (Peter) Ludlow, Patricia Ramos, and preceded in death by one child, Thomas Hyland.

She is also survived by her eleven grandchildren, Jessica (Franklin) Jiron, Megan Hyland, Shannon Hyland, John Hyland, Michael Hyland, Thomas Bruni, Jacklynn Ramos, Chloe Ludlow, Jennifer Hyland, Paige Ludlow, Michael Ramos, and one great-grandchild, Gabriela Jiron.

Maylene may have been born in Brooklyn, but she moved to Cornucopia, Wisconsin at the age of nine to live with relatives when her father couldn’t find work. She graduated from high school early and moved back to New York City by herself at sixteen, lived in a boarding house with a house mother, and worked as a mother’s helper. She later worked at Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance Company where she met her husband, John Hyland. Maylene had her first taste of travel as an airline stewardess for Northwest Airlines. She had eight children in eight years and survived the death of one, Thomas at a month old before anyone understood crib death. She went to college in her forties and became a physical therapy assistant. She did that for twenty years at Woodbury Nursing Home before retiring at sixty-five. Maylene was grandmother to eleven grandchildren and one great-grandchild whom she loved to meet at the Bronx Zoo, Coney Island Aquarium, and Great Adventure well into her eighties. In retirement, she became the queen of cruises going to Bermuda twelve times, her last just two years ago, Alaska six times, and all over Europe. Cruises fed her other two loves which were gambling and a good buffet. Anyone who’s ever been on a cruise with her knew that if you couldn’t find her, she was always in the casino. 

Maylene will be greatly missed by her family, neighbors and friends. A Heartfelt thanks to the staff at Good Samaritan Nursing Home for their kindness and generosity.