Catherine Donnelly Ruchovansky died on April 13, 2017 from complications due to Alzheimer’s. She was 87 years old.
Catherine Rita Donnelly, was born on a sunny summer’s morning on July 15, 1929 to Katherine and Joseph Donnelly of Hoboken. Catherine grew up with 2 brothers, Thomas and Joseph, and 3 sisters Peggy, Rita and Joan. All of her siblings have passed on except her younger sister Joan.
She was a Girl Scout from the age of 7 until the age of 77. On one occasion, at the World’s Fair in New York in 1939, she was separated from her troop. It didn’t bother her as she just walked around the fair for hours until she found someone she knew. Yes, she got in trouble on occasion. Catherine loved Girl Scouting and attended to her own troop every Wednesday night for as long anyone can remember.
At a Young Fellowship dance at the Episcopal Church she met her future husband, Stephen. They married on September 9, 1950 at Our Lady of Grace Church in Hoboken. They had one daughter Karen, who still loves and cares for them to this day. The happy family dwelt in Hoboken on 11th and Washington Streets until 2010. They were married 67 years.
Surviving are her beloved daughter, Karen Bentley and her husband, Arthur; 4 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren whom she adored, Jonathan Bentley his wife, Kathleen and their daughter, Dakota, Jason Bentley, Timothy Bentley, Alison Simone her husband, Anthony and their two daughters, Kaylee and Aubrey; loving sister, Joan Markey, and her children, Kenneth Markey, Andrew and Marguerite Markey along with their children, Andrew his wife, Jackie, Matthew and his wife, Jill and Christopher and his wife, Donjae; niece Patricia Genrizi and her two children, Beth and Mark, along with Doris and Ralph Desordi.
Visitation will be held at the Clayton & McGirr Funeral Home, 100 Elton-Adelphia Road (Route 524), Freehold Township on Tuesday, April 18, 2017 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Relatives and friends are invited to gather at 9:00 AM on Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at the funeral home for the procession to her 10:00 AM Funeral Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Robert Bellarmine, 61 Georgia Road, Freehold Township. Interment will follow at Brigadier General Wm. C. Doyle Veteran’s Cemetery, 350 Province Line Road, Arneytown. In lieu of flowers please pray the Rosary.
For information, directions or condolence messages to the family, visit www.claytonfuneralhome.com

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