On January 16, 2021, Joan Martina Veronica (née White) Quigley, loving mother, and grandmother, was called into Eternal Life.  She was 92 years old.  Born on the 12th of July 1928, in Derry City, N. Ireland, to Margaret (née Connor) and John White, she was the youngest of eight children.  Joan was fortunate to be born into a big, loving, family, and cherished her relationships with her parents and all her sisters and brothers.  Not only did she value the unique relationships she had with her siblings, but also took delight in their children, and relished when sisters and brothers shared their joys about them, as all her nieces and nephews were precious to her.  Her sisters Greta, Josie, Magdalen, Gabriel and Mona, and her brothers George and Vincent, all pre-deceased her.  Joan came to the United States to visit her sister Josie in November of 1951, liked America, and stayed.   Our dad, whom she had been dating in Ireland, asked her to marry him via letter and he arrived in the States about a year later.   On January 30th, 1953, Joan married Thomas Quigley, also from Northern Ireland, in St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn, NY.  Our dad pre-deceased her in 2002. Joan lived in Derry for 23 years, Brooklyn for 17 years, Long Island for 18 years, Milford, CT. for 12 years, and Hyde Park/Dutchess County for 22 years.   "Home" was always Derry. Before and after raising her family, Joan worked in the bookkeeping and accounting departments for various employers, including Chemical Bank, Sterling Optical, and Yale New Haven Hospital.  This last position she held was meaningful to her in many ways.  In addition to working for a major medical center that was the source of health and healing to so many, Joan forged wonderful friendships with her colleagues in the business office, enjoying social gatherings in addition to work related activities. Joan loved to travel, and she would have a map sprawled across the top of the glove compartment area of the car, as our dad drove us throughout different states in the United States (and Canada) in the 1960's.   She loved the United States of America and loved learning about all the states.  That's why vacations were always educational as well as fun, as she ensured we learned something about any place we visited. She also made sure her children got to know their grandparents, and all the aunts, uncles, and cousins, with many trips "home" to Northern Ireland during our growing up years. After raising her family, Joan travelled to California, Italy, Spain, Morocco, The Bahamas, England, and, of course, made yearly trips to Ireland with our dad in their retirement years. The three pillars in Joan's life were faith, family, and a lifelong love of learning.  She enjoyed dressing stylishly, (even wearing high heels on an airplane!) loved to dance and enjoyed tinkering at the piano.  She was the pianist who played "Happy Birthday" at all our family birthdays.  And she had a keen eye that looked out for the underdog, whether in her day-to-day life or society at large.  In retirement Joan was a member of The Cursillo Movement, volunteered as a Faith Formation Instructor at Regina Coeli Catholic Church, and was part of their team for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.  She took these volunteer positions very seriously, especially the sacred task of helping children see themselves as being made in the image and likeness of God, as she believed this conviction would give them the foundation to make wise decisions as they matured, so they, in turn, could lead emotionally and spiritually healthy, happy, and productive lives. Joan loved to read and expand her knowledge and instilled these values into her children. One of our earliest memories of our mother is when she took us to the Brooklyn Public Library in the early 1960's, as young children, so we could apply for our very own library cards.   During our early elementary school years, we'd walk home for lunch and Mom always had the original Jeopardy on TV to keep the learning going in a fun way.  Jeopardy! remained a favorite throughout her life. And, of course, her beloved family was at the center of everything.  She was the loving mother of Monica Doyle (Tim), of Hyde Park, NY, Thomas J. Quigley ( Norma) of Garden City, NY, and the loving grandmother to seven grandchildren - Raymond (Maria), Caroline, Rachel, Andrew, Brian, Neil, and Kevin.   She viewed each grandchild as unique and special and took great pains to ensure every gift she gave them was tailor made to their personalities.  In addition to her children and grandchildren she is survived by one sister-in-law, (also named Joan) in Northern Ireland, and many nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, and grand-nephews, both here and across the oceans. We wish to thank everyone who helped us care for our mother as her dementia progressed over the years, especially Bonnie, Gladys, Hudson Valley Hospice, and the entire staff of The Lutheran Care Center in Poughkeepsie, most especially the staff on 1 North.  We will be forever grateful as you helped us shepherd our mother as she travelled to her true "Home".   She is now part of the communion of saints.   "Everyone who breathes . . . has a mission . . . has a work.  We are not sent into this world for nothing; we are not born at random . . . God sees every one of us;  He creates every soul . . . for a purpose.   As Christ has His work, we too have ours."                                                                                                                                        - St. John Neumann  Calling hours will be on Saturday, January 23, from 9 to 11 am, at Sweet's Funeral Home, Rte. 9, Hyde Park. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 11:30 am at Regina Coeli Church, 2 Harvey St., Hyde Park. Fr. Michael Morris will officiate. Burial will be in the family plot at St. Peter's Cemetery, Poughkeepsie. Donations may be made in Joan's memory to Catholic Charities of Ducthess County, https://catholiccharities-dutchesscounty.org/about/our-affiliates/. Masks will be required and proper COVID precautions will be observed. Be prepared for longer than average wait times at the funeral home. For directions or to ZOOM during the visitation, livestream the service or simply leave the family an online condolence from the safety of your home, please visit www.sweetsfuneralhome.com . JOAN QUIGLEY EULOGY Good morning.  My name is Tom Quigley and on behalf of my sister Monica and our respective families, I'd like to thank you all for coming today to celebrate the life of our mom, Joan Quigley.  We're especially grateful to those of you that you came here today during the pandemic and we welcome all those who are joining us remotely.It's fair to say that everyone who knew my mother, thought of her as a kind and gentle person. She was exactly that. She never put anyone down or ever made anyone feel bad. She really was a very sweet lady.Now, at first glance, you might think that my mom lived an ordinary live.  But in many ways her life was quite extraordinary.  The legendary football coach Vince Lombardi once said that there are 3 things important in life: faith, family and football.  For my mom, it was 2 out of those 3.She grew up the youngest of 8 children in a city called Derry, Northern Ireland. Only one of her siblings, my Aunt Josie, left home and moved to America.  All of the others—my aunts Greta, Magdalen, Mona and Uncles George and Vincent-- remained in Northern Ireland. Her sister Gabriel died when she was an infant.  And, even though there was an ocean between us, my sister and I got to know our aunts, uncles and over two dozen cousins quite well; mainly through the 4 summers we spent in Derry growing up, the trips that some of them made to visit us, and through the stories that my mom told to us. My mom also loved to regale her 7 grandchildren with stories of her growing up in Derry with all of her brothers and sisters, sometimes more than once.  I think all of us can recite the story about Aunt Magdalen and the black doll by heart.  My mom lived through WWII.  And because Nothern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, Derry wasn't spared when the bombs fell during the Battle of Britain.  The war years were tough but my mom perservered.When she was 17, my mom contracted pneumonia and was bedridden for almost a year.  She was so sick, they didn't think she was going to make it and she was administered the last rites.  But she recovered and perserverd.When my mom was in her early 20s, she met a nice young man in Derry who went by the name of Armour Quigley.  There was only one problem: she was Catholic and he was Protestant.  And for those of you who aren't aware, a Protestant and Catholic dating In Northern Ireland in 1950 was the equivalent of a black and white dating in the deep South during that time period.  After they dated for  awhile, my mom decided to take  trip to America to visit her sister, my Aunt Josie, who lived in Brooklyn with my Uncle Charlie, and their two sons. Edmund and Maurice.  Now, I've heard two different stories;  one her family didn't want her to go, or two, they wanted her go to to get away from that bloody protestant.  You decide.So off she went in 1951 to visit America for a few months and she stayed for the next 70 years. A large part of the reason she stayed, was because that bloody protestant, followed her to Brooklyn, after he lived in New Zealand for a short while. They married in Brooklyn 68 years ago this month. For my mother to permanently leave her home in the north of Ireland and marry a Protestant, was quite extraordinary.  If that's not a love story, I don't know what is.  But it wasn't all smooth sailing.  Not long after my sister and I were born, my father was afflicted with an illness that prevented him from working.  My mom had two young children, no money and a husband who couldn't work.  But she perservered. And with her help, and a lot of prayers, my dad recovered from his disease in 1961.Later in life my father contracted empheysema.  My mom took care of him during his long, slow illness. He died in 2002 and my mom was alone for the first time in her life.  She had to learn how to do many things for the first time, like learning how to write a check to pay the bills.  But she perservered.Now to back up for a moment, my mom held a number of jobs over the years, mainly in the bookeeping and accounting departments of places like Chemical Bank, Sterling Optical and Yale Medical Center.  But her passion was her faith and her family.  She was close with her brothers, sisters, neices and nephews in Ireland despite the distance between her and them.  Practically all of my cousins told me at one time or another that Auntie Joan was their favorite.  And beginning in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, my parents went to Derry every year so that they could spend time with the family.  My mother made a couple of trips to Derry herself after that.  Even after half a century of living in America, my mom still referred to Derry as home. My mother raised my sister and me with care, comfort and love every single day.   She also instilled a work ethic and desire to excel in Monica and me and she was very proud to see us both become professionals, my sister's a pharmacist and I'm a lawyer. And she so dearly loved her 7 grandchildren:  Raymond, Caroline, Brian, Andrew, Kevin, Rachel and Neil, as well as those who joined our family by marriage, Tim, Norma and Maria. She took great pride in her grandchildren's achievements and she lived a bit vicariously through them.  I also would be remiss in not mentioning my cousin Edmund and his wife Rose, and their children Donna, Mark and Chris and their families.  All of whom brought joy to her life.  In addition to family, the other pillar of my mom's life was her Catholic faith.  She was a devout, and I do mean devout, Catholic. She never ever missed Sunday mass in her life until she was no longer physically able to go in the last few years.  She prayed, read the bible, read Catholic literature and belonged to a prayer group.  She was thoroughly knowlegeable about Catholicism and she shared that knowledge with others.  She taught CCD to grammer school students here at Regina Coeli.  She also taught the Right of Christian Initiation to adults who sought to convert to Catholicism. And she was very proud when one of her students completed the conversion.I'm about out of time, but if I had to sum up my mom's life in a few words, which is really an impossible task, I would say she loved her family, she lived her faith every day, and she perservered despite the many obstacles that were placed in her path. And she did it all with kindness and love. Mom, we're going to miss you, but we know your're in a better place.  You've probably already told St Peter the story about Aunt Magdalen's doll.  Thank you.