Margaret K. Dooley

Mrs. Margaret (Peg) Dooley passed away on November 6, 2022 In the comfort of her home surrounded by her family. Mrs. Dooley is survived by her seven children and their spouses, Thomas E. Jr. and Susan of Cranford, Shaun Dooley Benoit of Clark, Mary Lynn and Robert Deen of Timmonium, MD, Mark and Nancy of Doylestown, Pa., Ann Marie and David Hessler of Cranford, Joseph and Susan of Sterling, and Brian of Dublin, Ohio. She is also survived by her treasured grandchildren, Ted, Teresa, Michael, Shanna and Bridget Dooley, Ryan, Natalie and Tim Benoit, Brian, Kelly, Bobby and Trish Deen, Meghan and Bryan Miller, Caitlin Dooley, Kieffer Hessler, Joseph, Erin, Kate, Alec, Jordan and Kendal Dooley. Peggy was blessed to have welcomed into her family 13 great-grandchildren, Connor, Aedan, Dasan, Gianna, Rhylee, Owen, Finn, Grayson, Hadley, Sullivan, Emma, Elizabeth and Morgan. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews.

Mrs. Dooley was born in Baltimore, MD, the eldest daughter of the late Edward and Marion Kenney. She attended St. Agnes Hospital School of Nursing, graduating in 1948. She was part of the Nurses Cadet Corp's last class instituted to serve the nation's nursing needs during WWII. The American Hospital Association credited the cadet student nurses with helping to prevent the collapse of civilian nursing in the U.S. during the war. She served in a government hospital in Tacoma, Washington as part of the program addressing the medical needs of Native Americans and Eskimos.

She met and married her husband, Thomas E. Dooley of Linden, NJ while he was attending the University of Maryland School of Dentistry. Dr. and Mrs. Dooley moved to Linden, NJ in 1951 and moved to Cranford, NJ in 1963. She was a parishioner of St. Michael's and a member of St. Michael's Rosary Society. She was a member of St. Michael's first Parish Council, president of the Legion of Mary, a CCD Coordinator, a lector and part of the Lazarus Ministry. She was a member of The Dig and Delve Garden Club, Chairperson of the Recreation & Parks Advisory Board and the liaison to the Swim Pool Utility Advisory Board. Mrs. Dooley volunteered at the Cerebral Palsy League located on Holly Street and as a hospice nurse. She returned to hospital nursing at Rahway Hospital and retired in 1992.


Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend the funeral from Gray's Funeral Home, 12 Springfield Ave, Cranford,NJ on November 11. Mass of the Resurrection will be in St. Michael's Church, Cranford, NJ at 10:30 AM. Burial will be in St. Gertrude's Cemetery, Colonia, NJ. Visiting hours are at the funeral home on November 10, from 4 to 8PM.

According to Mrs. Dooley's wishes, the family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorials be sent to St. Joseph Social Service Center at 118 Division St., Elizabeth, NJ 07201, https://www.sjeliz.org or to Covenant House at 330 Washington St, Newark, NJ 07102, https://covenanthousenj.org/