Agnes A. (McKenna) O'Donnell

Agnes O’Donnell (nee McKenna), 101, of Lawrenceville, NJ formerly from Harrison, NJ passed away peacefully on April 30, 2021 after a brief illness at St. Francis Medical Center, Trenton, NJ. 

The Funeral will be conducted from the Mulligan Funeral Home, 331 Cleveland Avenue, Harrison, NJ 07029 on Wednesday, May 12th 9:45am. A funeral mass will be offered at Holy Cross Church, Harrison at 10:30am. Friends and relatives may visit on Tuesday, May 11th, 2021 from 2pm to 4pm and 6pm to 8pm and Wednesday after 9:15am. Her interment will follow in Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington, NJ.

If you would like to send a condolence message to her family, please visit www.mulliganfh.com.

Born in Kearny, New Jersey, Agnes was a resident of Harrison, NJ for the first 95 years of her life before moving to Lawrenceville, NJ in 2014. She graduated from Harrison High School and Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts. She was employed at Worthington Pump in Harrison during WWII and held the distinction of being the first woman ever hired as a drafter by the engineering department. She later worked at Prudential Insurance Company in Newark and Florham Park until she retired in 1986. Agnes was artistically gifted and enjoyed drawing and painting. She was also a talented seamstress and sewed clothes for herself and her children making many costumes over the years for Halloween, dance recitals and local theater groups.  Agnes taught Sewing at the Harrison Adult School in the evenings for many years. She enjoyed knitting and crocheting and spent many hours making baby blankets, afghans and sweaters. She was an active parishioner at Holy Cross Church in Harrison and did the manual typesetting and lay-out of the Sunday Bulletin for Holy Cross Church for many years. She was active in the Holy Cross Vincentian Society and the Harrison Cancer Guild, the Harrison Fire Department Women’s Auxiliary and the Harrison VFW Post #340 the Women’s Bowling League at Yeager’s Bowling Lanes in Harrison. Agnes had an extensive collection of antique and rare buttons that she acquired over her years of sewing and in her retirement was an active member of the Button Society of NJ, serving as President for 3 years and the NJ Buttoneirs.

Agnes and her family spent many wonderful summers at Spofford Lake, NH where she and her husband owned a summer home. She loved her time spent there with family. She will be remembered for her kind and gentle nature to all those whose lives she touched. She was generous with her time and talents to help others and to support her family, church and community. She opened her heart and home for all to feel at home. 

Agnes was predeceased by her husband of 61 years, James O’Donnell who served on the Harrison Fire Department for 39 years and retired as Deputy Chief. She was also predeceased by her parents, Thomas and Ann McKenna, siblings, Thomas, James and Ruth Mc Kenna and her grandson, Brian O’Donnell. She is survived by her children Kathleen Wozniak and son-in-law Alfred Wozniak, her daughter Darlynn and husband Guy Marsh, her son James O’Donnell and daughter-in -law Betty Jean O’Donnell and her daughter Sharon O’Donnell; 8 grandchildren, Kristen Schultz, Todd Wozniak, Tara Lynn Newman, Thomas Marsh, Lauren Marsh-Henry, Sabrina Aronis, Angelina Aronis and Hugh O’Donnell and 10 great-grandchildren, her niece, Stacey Hilgendorff, her husband Charles Hilgendorff and many nieces and nephews. 

In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Agnes’ memory to the NJ Firemen’s Home, 565 Lathrop Avenue, Boonton, NJ 07005, a Retirement and Assisted Living Facility. 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Agnes A. (McKenna) O'Donnell, please visit our floral store.