Eulogy for Marianne Mulvey

October 14, 2013

Eulogy

Marianne Janice Mulvey

St. Andrews Catholic church

Apex, North Carolina

(Delivered for Joe by Granddaughter Shea Wixson)

We are gathered today, not to mourn Marianne, but to celebrate her life.  This is not the moment to shed tears, but to be thankful that we were given the chance to know her.  It is a great honor and pleasure for me to be here to celebrate Marianne’s life and share some thoughts and memories with you.

A person’s obituary is informative but doesn’t always capture the unique nature of the person.  Some things you may not have known about Marianne include:

1.     When she was young she was called “Half and Half” since she is both Irish and Italian.  But, she was definitely Italian thru and thru.

2.     She couldn’t say a curse word or speak ill of others.

3.     She loved working with seniors, and ran the church homebound program in Colorado for 8 years.

4.     When she was in high school she was saving her money to go to Hawaii, but then met and married me.  It took 25 more years before she finally made it to Hawaii.

5.     Her mother picked me out for Marianne. She had a mutual friend set us up on a blind date.  Her mother didn’t like Marianne’s than current boyfriend.  Little did I know that nine months later we would be married.

6.     We lived in the Philippines for 18 months in 1967/68.

7.     She traveled to South Vietnam in November 1967 to visit me.

8.     She visited Thailand, Japan, England, Ireland, France, Germany, and Italy.  She kissed the blarney stone in Ireland.

9.     She couldn’t say”no”, and when we were young I had every encyclopedia set and prepaid family picture package sold by door to door sales persons.

10.  She never weighed more than 120 pounds, but she still used to go to Weight Watchers.

11.     She didn’t always understand my sense of humor.

12.     She taught me to be patient –although she didn’t always succeed.

13.     She visited the Vatican twice on separate trips to Italy.

14.     She found and we toured in 2002 both her grandparents’ birth homes (circa 1889) in Rocco Cilento, Italy.

15.    And one of the highlights of her life was meeting and shaking the hand of Pope John Paul 11, in August 1993, during World Youth Day in Denver.

 Marianne had that unique gift to find joy and happiness in the most trivial things. She was strong, courageous, honest, loving, and compassionate.  She thoroughly enjoyed being around people.  Although she didn’t express her opinion often, she still knew how to get her way.  She definitely showed me what courage, pray, and faith in God was all about.  Marianne didn’t complain once during her 3 year battle with cancer.  If strength, courage, and faith could have beat cancer, she would be with us today.  But, God had other plans for her. I find great comfort in knowing that Marianne is now free of pain and is resting in peace.  I was honored to be able to stand by Marianne through her struggle.  When we were young I called her my “Little Flower” after St. Terese.  That is why I have a single white rose next to her ashes by the altar. I was going through Marianne’s purse the other day, and found a medal of St. Therese with the words “I will let fall a shower of roses.  I will spend my heaven doing good on earth.”  

 I thank all of you for being here today.  The kindness shown by our family and friends has been outstanding.  Marianne was blessed in having such a loving and caring support group.  I know that Marianne is looking down upon us with a smile on her face.

It is not how long you lived but how wide a shadow you cast.  Marianne’s love and compassion will endure forever.  Marianne, we love you and will carry your memories in our heart.  God Bless all!

The family would like to invite everyone to join us after mass at daughter Colleen’s house, 104 Betsworth, Cary, to partake in refreshments and food.