Eileen Cavanaugh Shanly

1943 - 2023

Shanly, Eileen Cavanaugh
TROY - Eileen Cavanaugh Shanly made her transition to eternal rest on October 18, 2023, at Samaritan Hospital in Troy, surrounded by her family.
In a full circle, she was born at Samaritan Hospital in November of 1943, where her father was the chief of pediatrics. Eileen graduated from the Academy of the Holy Names and received her baccalaureate degree from Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y. She started her career in Troy as well, working for the Department of Labor as an employment counselor, a role she loved and continued until her retirement in 2003, though she took a brief break to raise her children when the family moved to Rochester.
Eileen was a ray of light to anyone who knew her, never finding fault in anyone's actions. For that reason, she was often a confidant, especially to those who knew they'd be judged elsewhere. Some of her last prayers were for the hospital chaplain and the medical team that cared for her because "they must feel awful they can't save me." She was the embodiment of the saying, "Dance as if no one is watching." She was a great lover of all music, but primarily the Holy Trinity of music: Classical, Folk, and Irish. She loved her Irish heritage, Siena basketball, Crooked Lake, animals - primarily horses, dogs (and the occasional feral cat), and taking your leftovers after a meal in a restaurant. But above all else, she loved her family, nuclear and extended.
Eileen was predeceased by her parents, Frederick and Marie Cavanaugh, and her former husband, Michael Shanly. She is survived by her brother, Fred (Debbie); children, Timothy (Shannon), Julie (Kevin), and Brian (Mary); her grandchildren, Sheridan, Erica, Mary, Nikole, Dalton, Rachel, Broghan, Niall, and Fiona; her great-grandchildren, Dylan, Trinity, Teaghan, Amelia, Connor, Mason and Aubrey, and an abundance of close cousins and dear friends, all of whom will miss her terribly.
Friends and family may call at the William Leahy Funeral Home, 336 Third St., Troy from 4- 7 p.m. on Monday, October 23. The funeral service for Eileen will be held on Tuesday morning October 24, at 9:15 a.m. at the William Leahy Funeral Home, and a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at the Sacred Heart Church in Troy at 10 a.m.