Mary Ellen Hanrahan's Obituary
Mary Ellen Hanrahan passed peacefully in her sleep at UF Health on May 14, 2023 with her daughters at her side. She was predeceased by her husband of nearly 64 years, Robert Joseph Hanrahan, and two of her children, Ann Marie Hanrahan and Robert Joseph Hanrahan, Jr. Mary Ellen was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin on January 17, 1932 to Evyleen Mary Richardson Hogan and James Timothy Hogan, who was a railroad engineer. Her mother had emigrated from Ireland in 1921 at the age of 19, having experienced the Irish Revolution in Dublin.
Mary Ellen was the oldest of three children, and was predeceased by her brother, Kevin Hogan, and sister, Maureen Neufeld. She is survived by two daughters, Sheila Hanrahan (and her husband Tom Gibson) and Pegeen Hanrahan (and her husband Tony Malone), six grandchildren and one great grandson: Matthew Hanrahan (and his wife Jamie), James Gibson (and his wife Brittany and son Isaac), Grace Gibson, and Evy, Quinn and Tess Malone. Mary Ellen is also survived by son-in-law David Prince, daughter-in-law Margie Foster, and many beloved sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews and their families.
Mary Ellen earned a B.A. from the College of St. Teresa in Winona, Minnesota, and completed graduate courses in Social Work at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where she met her husband Bob while he was completing his PhD in Chemistry. Mary Ellen worked for Catholic Charities while living in Madison, placing babies in adoptive homes. She maintained contact with many of those families for decades.
Mary Ellen and Bob spent the first year of their marriage in Leeds, England, where Bob competed his post-doctoral research, then they moved to Gainesville in 1958. One of Mary Ellen’s passions was making Bob’s graduate students, from all over the U.S. and the world, feel welcome in Gainesville. She hosted dozens of them at holidays and other festivities during his more than 45 years as a professor at the University of Florida and worked hard to respect cultural differences and to help settle their families.
Mary Ellen was active in church and civic groups and was an early volunteer at the Palmer King Day Care, focused on quality care for Black children. She was involved in Gainesville Women for Equal Rights, the League of Women Voters, and parish life at St. Augustine and Holy Faith. For many years she enjoyed working at the Friends of the Library Booksale, and as a poll worker. She enjoyed a close-knit bridge club. In 1976 the entire family spent six months in Berlin, Germany, and traveled through much of Western Europe. The family also camped all over the U.S., and Mary Ellen was active as a Girl Scout mom, Dance mom, Suzuki Violin mom, and on and on. Once the kids were grown, she worked at UF Student Financial Aid and for the Women, Infants and Children federal nutrition program.
She was generous with her time and advice to those she loved and was deeply committed to causes including support for disadvantaged people and environmental conservation. She was a voracious consumer of news and information and had an extraordinary memory and intellect.
The family is deeply indebted to Mary Ellen’s long-term caretakers, most notably Briana Cohen, Natasha Morris, Laci Kelly and Denese Diedrick. Mary Ellen was very fond of each of them, as well as her longstanding handyman, Claude McCallum. She was a fiercely independent, private and humble person accustomed to serving others, so she accepted their loving care with reluctance but a great deal of gratitude. Deeply missed, we know she is reunited in God’s kingdom with Bob, Robert, Ann Marie, her parents and siblings and others she much loved.
The service will be conducted with the help of Williams Thomas Funeral Home and will be held at Holy Faith Catholic Church on Saturday, June 24 at 1 PM, with Father Mike Elias officiating. Interment will follow on Tuesday at Queen of Peace. In lieu of flowers, the family would be grateful for your support to the charity of your choice.
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