Margaret Walsh Conley

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Margaret Walsh Conley, a 48-year resident of Rockville Centre, Naples, Fla. and most recently, Shelton, Conn., died in her sleep on Aug. 14, nine weeks after her 95th birthday celebration.

Born in 1917 in Brooklyn, Conley, a first-generation American of Irish ancestry, was a 25-year volunteer at Mercy Medical Center, a member of the St. Agnes Rosary Altar Society, a 50-year member of the Soroptimists of Nassau County and the Founding Mother of the Soroptimists of Naples. Soroptimist is an international volunteer organization for business and professional women who work to improve the lives of women and girls.

According to her daughter, Conley was always busy – working alongside her husband at Walsh/Conley Religious Goods in Hempstead, a business they started with her sister, Veronica. She also kept busy caring for her five children or playing bridge with her friends. She was exceptional at acquiring gifts for her charities’ card parties and raffles.

Conley is described as a great friend – she had girlfriends from elementary school with whom she remained friends throughout their lives. She loved to travel with her family – road trips with the children each summer and trips to Europe and the Far East with her husband and sisters. Her large family and many loving friends will miss her dearly.

She was predeceased by her loving husband of 60 years, Charles Arthur Conley III and her four siblings, Veronica, Gladys, Richard and Bertram Walsh. She is survived by her children, Charles Conley IV and his wife Mary O’Connor Conley of Merrick; Richard Conley of Riverhead; Margaret Conley Heffel of Stratford, Conn.; Patricia Conley Hudson of Louisville, Ky. and James Conley of San Antonio, Texas. She was the grandmother of seven; Charles Conley V, Maura Conley Heilman and her husband Peter, Kevin and Lesley Heffel, and David, Ryan and Brent Hudson. She was the great-grandmother of three — Grace Heilman and her newborn twin brothers, Leo and Mac.

Conley lay in repose at Macken Mortuary and a funeral Mass was held at St. Agnes Cathedral on Aug. 18, after which she was interred at the Gate of Heaven cemetery in Hawthorne, N.Y. The family asks that donations in her name be made to The Connecticut Hospice, Inc., 100 Double Beach Road, Branford, CT, 06405.