Rosemary Q. Geary

Rosemary (Quigley) Geary of Stoneham passed away on Thursday, May 26, 2022.  She is 76 years of age.

Born on Saturday, August 25, 1945 in Malin, County Donegal, Ireland, Rosemary is the loving daughter of the late Patrick Quigley and Susan (McGonagle) Quigley.  Rosemary is a gentle, warm and kind daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, aunt and friend.  She will be truly missed.

Rosemary was born in Malin, Co Donegal Ireland and moved at a young age to Pierson Place in Linwood, Scotland.  Her love of the beach began while growing up in Scotland because her mom took them to the beach via several different buses.  While attending Secondary High School “High School” she was an avid track runner.   Upon completion of Secondary school, she attended Skerry College to study business and secretarial courses.  At 18, she made the decision to come live in Somerville with her Uncle Phil.  After a short time, she became homesick and went back to Scotland for a few years. She realized that she wanted to be back in the United States and moved back just before her 21st birthday. At that time, she moved in with her older brother John and his wife Anne. During the day she worked for a lawyer and after work she had a very active social life going to many dances and the bowling team, she was on with her older brother Owen. In early 1967, at Kilgariff’s in Jamaica Plain, she met the love of her life Frank. On November 30, 1968, they got married at Sacred Heart church in Medford. They then moved to Liberty Ave in Somerville where they started their family with daughters Eleanor and Margaret. Shortly after they had Margaret, they moved to Maple Street, Stoneham where they added Susan to their family. In 1976, they bought their own home on Summer Street and finished their family with Patricia.

She was always returning to Ireland with her ever growing family so that they could spend time with her parents, her sister Margaret, her brother John, and large extended family.

For years, if you needed to find Rosemary during the week, good luck. She was either at a soccer field, field hockey field, basketball court or on her way back and forth to Quincy for Irish step dancing. In 1984, after Frank was injured, Rosemary again joined the fulltime workforce at the town of Stoneham.  She continued to work for the town of Stoneham until her retirement in 2017. When she wasn’t working or watching her children’s sporting events, she was a coach and longtime board member for the Stoneham Soccer Club.  She also started the girls’ soccer program at the Stoneham middle school. She was an avid attendee at town meeting, where her and her best friend Michelle left an indelible mark. Rosemary’s greatest title was Grammie, she would attend as many activities as possible of her 5 grandchildren that her work schedule would allow. Grammie was quick to help with summer reading projects and Spanish homework despite not knowing any Spanish herself. As her last granddaughter was born and began her life of activities, she became the grandmother everyone expected in attendance at every feis, Oireachtas, national championship and gymnastics meet she competed in. As her health declined, she couldn’t attend as many, and her boisterous encouragement was sorely missed by not only the children bur all the other moms and grandmothers there.  She was everyone’s Grammie!!

In 2005 the family began renting a beach house in Gloucester.  This was Rosemary’s greatest thrill as her husband, siblings, children, grandchildren, and everyone’s friends all spent time with her on the beach.  It was at that time that her grandchildren started insisting she wear her highlighter-colored t-shirts.  They knew they could keep an eye on Grammie but also have instant awareness as to where the snacks were.  Every day was a better day if Rosemary was at the beach.

In 2020, while we all dealt with Covid, she welcomed her great grandson Luka. He became a bright shining light for Grammie during the worst of her health problems.   We all have Luka to thank for the last 18 months spent with Rosemary-he kept her going and always made her smile.

Rosemary is finally pain free and reunited with her parents and the rest of us have a new guardian angel to look out for us and keep us safe.  She will be sorely missed as she was a force to be reckoned with but anyone that knew her was better for it.

Rosemary is the beloved wife of Francis J. “Frank” Geary.  She is the devoted mother of Eleanor Volpe, Margaret Donovan and her husband David, Susan Geary and Patricia Tancredi and her husband Michael.   The cherished grandmother of Patricia Volpe, Carl Robertson – Volpe and his wife Maya, Brendan Donovan and his partner Karlene, Deirdre Donovan and Anastasia Pino Geary, Rosemary is the doting great grandmother of Luka Donovan.  She is the dear sister of Owen Quigley and his wife Bridie, John Quigley and his wife Fiona, Phillip Quigley and his wife Maryann and Margaret McGowan and her husband Patsy.  Rosemary is also lovingly survived by many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Funeral from the Barile Family Funeral Home, 482 Main Street (RT 28) STONEHAM, Saturday, June 4^th at 9am followed by a Funeral Mass Celebrating Rosemary’s Eternal Life in Saint Patrick Church, 71 Central Street Stoneham at 10am.  Family and friends are cordially invited to gather and share memories with Rosemary’s Family on Friday, June 3^rd from 4-8pm in the Funeral Home.  Parking attendants and elevator are available.  Interment Lindenwood Cemetery, Stoneham.

Please consider making donations in Rosemary’s memory to the Rheumatoid Arthritis Foundation, Help Fight RA, 8815 Conroy Windermere Rd. Suite 309, Orlando, FL 32835 or t Saint Patrick Church, 71 Central Street, Stoneham, MA 02180.

For more information, www.facebook.com/BarileFamilyFuneralHome