Maureen Hurley Neville passed away peacefully at home on Christmas Eve, 2017. She was 84 years old. Maureen was predeceased by her husband Anthony and her brother Sean. She is survived by her ten children, her twenty-five grandchildren and sister Kathleen/Vera. Maureen was born in October 1933 in Ballydehob, County Cork, Ireland. She was the second of three children. Ballydehob is a tiny little town in West Cork. The Hurley family ran a shop/candy store in the town.
Maureen’s mother died when she was very young. Maureen and Vera were the ladies of the house until they were teenagers. PJ Hurley married again and that created tension in the home. When she was sixteen, with a borrowed coat and ten pounds in her pocket, Maureen left Ballydehob and moved to London. In London, she was advised that when applying for a secretarial job to answer yes to everything. When asked if she knew the Kalamazoo filing system, Maureen showed some moxie and confidently said yes. She got the job and learned the filing system.
After a while, Vera joined her in London. They worked in London until 1955 when they moved to America. Maureen and Vera moved in with Aunt Kathy in Washington Heights. Maureen and Vera enjoyed dancing. At one dance at City Center in Manhattan, she met Tony Neville. In August 1958, Maureen and Tony were married. In June 1959, their first son was born. Tony and Maureen were married for fifty-seven years. Everyone had a great time at their fiftieth wedding anniversary weekend.
After Maureen and Tony’s first child was born, they bought a house on 60th Road in Middle Village, Queens. On 60th Road, Maureen created a wonderful home for her young and growing family. 60th Road is a quiet block. Most of the houses had young families with at least three or four kids. The Neville’s had ten and the O’Kelly’s next door had nine children. The block was alive with activity that drew other kids from the surrounding area. There was always some game being played in the street or on the hill of the black alley. The black alley was a blacktopped community driveway where with any snow, it was mobbed with sleigh riders. Maureen and Tony could watch from the front porch.
As Maureen’s family grew in size and age, Maureen became in charge of the logistics and scheduling. People would be coming and going at all hours. Maureen made sure that everyone was up and out when they had to be. She was always the first one up. There was always something simmering on the stove. The mornings before school was like an assembly line where faces were scrubbed and hair was combed. Young Anthony was often greeted with “Good morning Dr. Gloom, turn that frown upside down.” Of course, she helped out whoever had the Neville Daily News paper route.
When Maureen saw that Tony had a couple of minutes with nothing to do, she convinced him to buy fifteen acres of land in Dutchess County. This affectionately became known as the “Neville Work Farm”. The idea was to get the city kids into the country and to spend time together. Every weekend, Maureen and Tony would bring their brood to “Ballydee” as Maureen named the country place. Once the land was cleared and the house built, there was time to relax and enjoy walks on the country lanes and the Appalachian Trail that went through the property.
Ballydee was just one example of a project where Maureen would have an idea for a project that Tony would flat out reject loudly. It was fun to watch the process where he would rage against the project, but he knew and we knew it was only a matter of time before the project was done. I am sure that Maureen already has a project planned in heaven.
Maureen is an example of the American immigrant story. She raised ten children, stressed to them the value of education and hard work. It would have been amazing to see what she might have done with the opportunities available to women today. She was very proud of the education her children and grandchildren received.
Maureen was a pioneer. A pioneer in Ireland was a person who took the pledge not to drink or smoke. Maureen was a pioneer to the end. Though her kids and Tony could easily have driven her to drink, she remained true to her pledge. We are all glad that she did not join the convent. When one or a number of her children would disappoint her, she would say, “I should have joined the convent.” Her children and grandchildren are glad that she did not.
Maureen no longer has to worry about whether all her kids are in for the night. There were many weekend nights where the pioneer would be doing perimeter checks to see who was home and who had checked in and snuck out again. She would check windows and backdoors to make sure they had not been left open by wayward children out past curfew. Maureen became a master of finding out what happened the night before by interrogating her children while they were still half a sleep. Thankfully, she successfully shepherded us through our young and wild days.
Maureen was the matriarch of her family. We will all miss her. She touched many lives. May she rest in peace.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Maureen Neville, please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.