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Visitation at Funeral Home
Visitation
Mass
Obituary of Mary Patricia Hamilton
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Mary Patricia Hamilton Obituary
Mary Patricia Fitzgerald was born on March 3, 1935, at Peck Memorial Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, to Ellen Carey Fitzgerald and Joseph Fitzgerald of Knock House, County Waterford, Ireland. She died in Ocean County, New Jersey, on March 4, 2025, one day after her 90th birthday.
Mary was often distinguished early in life with the first row, first seat at St. Francis of Assisi grammar school in Brooklyn, New York. She married James Hamilton, who attended the same school and who ironically sometimes sat in the last row, last seat. Thoughtfully, she never lauded her intellectual superiority over her husband. Mary went on to attend Bishop McDonnell Scholarship High School for Girls and was invited to join the selective “French Group” as a scholar among scholars. She was encouraged to pursue higher education and the teaching profession, however, after graduation, she chose to attend Catherine Gibbs Secretarial School. There she became proficient in office skills that led to many successes in the business world where she was a secretary for senior executives, lawyers, and a college president. Whether high up in the Chrysler Building on 42nd Street or in the towers of academia, Mary was always recognized for her good humor, intellectual ability, and substantial contributions. Yet, for Mary, career accomplishments were only a prelude to her true life’s calling – getting married and building a family.
One day, while working at the Wellington Sears Company in New York City in 1955, she re-met her former schoolmate, and now fellow employee, Jim Hamilton, in the elevator.
“I remember you from St. Francis — that is some sunburn!” she quipped. She always claimed that Jim waited on the corner talking to a friend that day until she came along, and that is how they rode the train back to Brooklyn together for the first time. That simple moment sparked a courtship that spanned seven years.
In the spring of 1962, Jim’s career took him to Cincinnati, Ohio, as a sales representative for Martex Towels. That same year, Mary and Jim became
engaged, and in October, they married and began their life together in Ohio. In September of 1963 their first son Jim was born in Cincinnati, with Phillip following in Cleveland in 1964, Stephen back in Brooklyn in 1966 and Mark in Brooklyn in 1968. Shortly after this, Mary and Jim made a fateful move to Upper Montclair, NJ in December 1968. Mary and Jim spent the next 40 fulfilling years surrounded by wonderful friends, raising their children in Montclair, New Jersey. Mary beautifully chronicled her many adventures growing up in Brooklyn, her marriage to Jim, and living and raising their four sons in Montclair in her humorous and touching memoir, “It Only Happens Now and Then.”
Mary and Jim always felt it was God’s hand that guided them throughout their married life from Brooklyn to Ohio to Montclair and to the original Leisure Village in Ocean County, New Jersey, where they spent over a decade of truly golden years in the sunset of their lives.
One of Mary’s last conversations with her beloved husband of 62 years involved how much she truly loved each and every one of her children and their wives and her grandchildren, and how she found no fault and could only recollect the finest qualities in each and every one of them: James N. Hamilton and his wife Sil, Phillip A. and his wife Libby, Stephen C., Mark F. and his wife Loren, and her grandchildren Seamus Fitzgerald, Patricia Kim, Mary Patrice, Stephen Carey, James Noel III, Declan Diego, Peter Lee, Margaret Mary, Claire Noel, Meaghan Fitzgerald, Julia Ellen, Bridgett Fitzgerald, Francis Xavier, Maura Grace, Aleth Ellen, Laurel Mary, and Sean Brewer. She also loved her great grandchildren Ronan, Daragh, Maeve, and Cormac Carey.
Mary’s love and devotion to her family shaped her life. She will be remembered for her sharp intellect, quick wit, love for Ireland, and deep faith. Her legacy lives on in the hearts of those she cherished most.