Obituary of Ethel O'Mara

Ethel M. O'Mara, 85, of Montclair, N.J., passed away on Tuesday, August 31, 2010, at home. Born in New York City, Ethel lived in Bogota, before moving to Montclair in 1948. She was a long-time member of Immaculate Conception Church. She served as a "Sunday" volunteer, St. Vincent's Nursing Home, from 1990 to 2007. She was a coordinator for Immaculate's Outreach Aids Ministry, "We Care," which organizes cooks and drivers for St. Bridget's Aids Center in Newark. Ethel attended the International Catholic Conference on Aids at the Vatican in Rome in 1989, and, in 2004, visited Mildmay Mission Aid Center, Uganda Africa. In 2004, she received the Archdiocesan Sesquicentennial Cathedral Golden Jubilee Medal. Ethel was the wife of the late Martin J., mother of Kathleen Beversluis of East Hanover, Martin J. of Washington, D.C., Timothy J. of Narragansett, R.I., Maureen Keenan of Boston, MA, Terence J. of New York City, and Colleen Diana of Medfield, MA. She was grandmother to fifteen grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Ethel was sister to the late Kay Fleming, John Cooney and James Cooney; and survived by May Primrose, Patricia Kent, Gloria Grunn, Joseph Cooney and George Cooney. Visitation will be held in Immaculate Conception Church, North Fullerton Ave., Montclair on Thursday, September 2, from 2 to 4 pm and 7 to 9 pm. A funeral mass will be celebrated on Friday, at 10:00 am at the Church, followed by internment at Immaculate Conception Cemetery, Montclair. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Immaculate Conception Endowment, 1 Munn Street, Montclair, or the Montclair Historical Society, 180 Orange Road, Montclair.