Obituaries: Aileen Mary Fullam Callahan
November 01, 2009
Aileen Mary Fullam Callahan, loving widow of John E. Callahan, and beloved mother and grandmother, passed away at her home at Idlewild Creek Senior Apartments in Cornwall on October 29, 2009. She had lived in Cornwall and Cornwall-on-Hudson for more than 48 years, and before that in Bellmore and East Meadow, Long Island.
She was a devout Catholic and a member of St. Thomas of Canterbury Church, where she was a longstanding member of the Catholic Daughters of America, Court Rita #264. In recent years, she was an avid member of the Mother Lurana Adult Social Center at Graymoor in Garrison, NY.
The daughter of the late Harry and Agnes Fullam, she was born in Richmond Hill, NY on June 2, 1923, and grew up in St. Albans, Queens, graduating with a lifelong group of sorority friends from Saint Agnes High School in Rockville Centre, NY.
On September 18, 1948, she married John, who predeceased her in 2004. She and John are survived by their five children: Mary Ann in New York City; John and his wife, Maggie, in Charlotte, NC; James and his wife, Lisa, in Fairfield, CT; Thomas and his wife, Dorothy, in Olney, MD and Kevin and his wife, Anne, in Temecula, CA, and seven grandchildren: Thomas and his wife, Katherine, in Ellicott City, MD; Michele at New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY; Katherine at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH; Caroline at City Year Columbia, SC; Robert in Fairfield, CT and Aidan and Mairead in Temecula, CA. Their first grandchild, Catherine, predeceased them.
While raising her family, Aileen enjoyed working as a payroll bookkeeper in the Town of Cornwall Supervisor’s Office, retiring in 1986. A member of the Cornwall Democratic Committee, she had a lifelong interest in politics. She was a Cub Scout den mother and also was active in parent groups at St. Thomas of Canterbury School and John S. Burke Catholic High School.
Aileen and John had enjoyed many cruises and worldwide travel after their retirement. They volunteered at Cornwall Senior Dining Program and at Covenant House Florida, and were fans of the Iona College Basketball Team. They also spent many happy winters as snowbirds with a special group of friends in New Smyrna Beach, FL.
As an only child, Aileen especially appreciated her friends, caregivers and neighbors in the local community and parish. Among her many interests, she enjoyed pinochle and dominoes, senior line-dancing, tap dancing, reading and being in the chorus of the Mother Lurana Hotsy Totsy Follies.
Visitation will be held on Sunday, November 1, 2009, from 2-5 and 7-9 at James F. Lulves Funeral Home, Inc., 9 Avenue A, Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday, November 2, 2009 at 10:00 am at St. Thomas of Canterbury Church. Interment will follow in St. Thomas Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that contributions in Aileen’s memory may be made to the Mother Lurana Adult Social Center, 166 Old West Point Road, Garrison, NY 10524 or to St. Thomas of Canterbury Sanctuary Fund, 340 Hudson St., Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY 12520.
Arrangements are under the direction of James F. Lulves Funeral Home, Inc. (845) 534-2550.
For directions or to send condolences, please visit www.lulvesfuneralhome.com
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