Gladys Dolaghan

                                                    Gladys Dolaghan

Mother, Grandmother, Great Grandmother. November 20, 1922 – November 12, 2022.

Gladys Dolaghan, (nee Pringle), a life-long resident of Harrison passed away of natural causes, on

November 12, 2022, at home in the presence of her loving family. Gladys would have been 100 years of

age on the 20 th of November.

Visitation will be Wednesday, November 16 th  2022  from 3 to 7pm and Thursday morning after 9am at Mulligan Funeral Home 331 Cleveland Avenue Harrison, NJ 07209.

NJ.    A funeral mass will take place at 11am on Thursday November 17 th at Holy Cross Church in Harrison.  Her Entombment will follow in Holy Cross Chapel Mausoleum, North Arlington.

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

Gladys was born, raised, and lived her entire life in the town she called home, her beloved Harrison, NJ.

Not only did Gladys live her entire life in Harrison, but she also lived 92 of her 100 years on the same

street, Cleveland Avenue. For the last sixty seven years 432 Cleveland Avenue has been home and it

was fitting that Gladys passed away in this home on the 12 th of this month.

Gladys was predeceased by her loving husband John F. Dolaghan, her parents, Thomas and Ethel Pringle,

as well as her siblings, Marjorie, Thomas, Herbert, and Kenneth, as well as her grandsons, Brendan

Michael Dolaghan and Vincent John Doffont.

Gladys was the loving mother of seven children, John, and his wife Michelle (nee Cerstvik), Michael, and

his partner Sylvia (nee Perez), James and his wife Marianne (nee Adamczyk) Brian and his wife Karen

(nee Padavano) Thomas and his wife Cindy (nee Jones), Marylynn and her husband Vincent Doffont and

Mark and his wife Colleen (nee Galladay).

Gladys was the loving grandmother of fourteen Grandchild, Erin and her husband Jeremy, Lauren and

her husband Robert, Brian and his wife Kimberly, Sean and his wife Jennifer, Erik and his wife Meaghan,

Jack, Emily and her husband Francis, Thomas, Vincent and his wife Brighid, Tara and her husband

Thomas, Mark and his wife Jenna, Brendan, Nolan and James. In addition to her grandchildren Gladys

had nineteen great grandchildren with a 20 th due in May of 2023.

Gladys met her husband John F. Dolaghan while they attended Harrison High School in the late 1930’s,

where the two graduated together in the class of 1940. Gladys and John courted throughout high

school and planned a life together, but like many of the “Greatest Generation”, they had to put their

lives on hold due to World War II. Just days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, john enlisted in the United

States Navy and Gladys would have to wait five years for him to return. When John did return the

couple didn’t waste any time and married on October 12, 1946. Over the next sixteen years, John and

Gladys did their part in contributing to the baby boomer generation by bringing seven children into the

world.

Gladys was born into the Protestant faith and was raised in the Episcopalian Church. However, as often

was the custom at the time, Gladys converted to Roman Catholicism before marrying John in 1946.

Gladys became a committed and devout Roman Catholic. For seventy six years she was a member of

her cherished Holy Cross Parish in Harrison. She deserved the honor of being called a “daily

communicant”, having received holy communion at daily mass for decades, a practice that did not stop

until her mid 90’s. At Holy Cross, Gladys was a member of both the Rosary and Vincentian Societies, as

well as being a dedicated member of the school’s PTA. Gladys was also a proud member of the Harrison

Cancer League over forty years.

In her 100 years on this earth, Gladys saw most of the 20 th century and the first two decades of the 21 st .

She lived through the Great Depression, an event that would have a profound effect on her for the rest

of her life. After the depression, came World War II, Korea, the fabulous fifties, Vietnam, the moon

landing, the bicentennial, the Iranian hostage crisis, two more wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and sadly

the horror of 9/11. When Gladys was born Warren G. Harding was the 29 th President of the United

States. When she passed away Joe Biden was the 46 th President. That’s 18 presidents in one lifetime.

To her countless friends, neighbors and acquaintances she was a gentle, genuinely good and decent

human being. She was a person who never had a bad word for, nor malice in her heart toward, anyone.

Her empathy toward others was expressed in one of her most often spoken phrases, “There but for the

grace of God go I”. However, she could also be funny without really trying to be. Recently, when one of

her great grandchildren asked her for advice on how to live life, Gladys told the child, “Always mind your

own business”.

To those of us who called her mom or grandma, she was one of the bravest, strongest, most resilient,

kind, giving, selfless people that you could ever hope to meet. If you were in her company, it was

impossible to be down or dispirited, her warm loving smile just made you feel better. Mom loved life

and everyone she met. Faith, family, country, and community were everything to her.

We all love and miss you more than words could ever express. We know that God will grant you eternal

rest and his perpetual light will always shine upon you.

For those desiring, In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Harrison Cancer League OR make a donation to her Beloved Holy Cross Church, Harrison in care of the funeral home in loving memory of Gladys.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Gladys Dolaghan, please visit our floral store.