JACQUELYN DONNELLY

Jacquelyn Mary (nee Kearns) Donnelly, 76, of Las Vegas, passed away peacefully July 28, 2018, after a brief battle with cancer. Jackie was born November 5, 1941, in Oceanside, New York, the daughter of the late John “Jack” and Anita (nee Shea) Kearns of N. Massapequa and Co. Galway, Ireland. Jackie attended Saint Kilian Roman Catholic Church in Farmingdale, New York, where she received her sacraments. She graduated Farmingdale High School in 1959 and attended Hofstra University. Jackie worked for United Airlines out of LaGuardia, New York, where she met her husband, of 55 years, David W. Donnelly. Jackie and David moved from Huntington Station, Long Island, New York to Boxford, Massachusetts in 1971, where they raised their four children. Jackie was active in the Boxford community volunteering with Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and many of her children’s athletic teams until retiring to Las Vegas in 1996. She had many interests and hobbies throughout her lifetime such as gardening, travel (many trips to Ireland), reading (she read every James Patterson novel) and preparing delicious homemade dinners from one of her many cookbooks. Her most favorite hobby by far was working on the family’s genealogy. Her research was extensive and dates back many, many generations. On any one of her trips to Ireland with her children, it was not unusual for her drive to a remote part of the County Galway countryside, knock on a door or church and introduce the family as relatives from America. She was proud of her Irish heritage but prouder to be an American. On her first date with David, she waited patiently in her parents’ home in Farmingdale, Long Island, while David was in the driveway listening to a Red Sox-Yankees game on the car radio. At the end of the inning, he knocked on the door where he first met his future in-laws. Although a native New Yorker, she was indoctrinated as a New England fan by virtue of being married to a Bostonian from Point of Pines Revere. Her fashion attire and home decor often included Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Bruins logos. Jackie was preceded by death by her sister, Michele E. Kearns. Jackie is survived by her husband, David W. Donnelly; children, Sheila M. (Donnelly) Oliveira and her husband, Luiz, John K. Donnelly and his wife, Denise, Kevin K. Donnelly and his wife, Michelle, and Patrick K. Donnelly and his wife, Jenny; and seven grandchildren whom she adored, Griffin, Jack, Ronan, James, Caroline, Zachariah and Olivia. Jackie kissed the Blarney stone on her first trip to Ireland in 1958 when she was 18. It was these “gift of gab” conversations where she provided her family words of wisdom, encouragement and strength that she instilled in her children and grandchildren to get them through some of life’s most difficult moments that they will all miss so much. Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Friday, August 17, at St. Joseph, Husband of Mary, Roman Catholic Church, 7260 W. Sahara Ave., Las Vegas, NV 89117. All are welcome to attend to celebrate Jackie’s life. In lieu of flowers, Jackie would hope that you would do an unexpected act of kindness for someone less fortunate in her name. The family will hold a private burial at a later time at Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 1900 Memorial Drive, Boulder City, NV 89005.