Obituary of Joseph Geraghty
Joseph Patrick Geraghty was the eldest son of Patrick and Bridget Maguire Geraghty, immigrants from County Mayo, Ireland. Born February 11, 1931 in Brooklyn, New York, Joe was one of five children. His two sisters Helen Moran and Katherine Mulrooney predeceased him as did his brother James. He is survived by his youngest brother, John.
Joe attended St. Jerome’s Elementary School, Brooklyn Tech High School, and St. John’s University for both his undergraduate degree and his J.D.
After a year’s courtship, Joe married the love of his life, Mary Schiavo on June 15, 1957. Joe and Mary had a beautiful relationship built on love, respect and devotion. They were a couple with a great sense of balance and empathy. Their home was full of love, tremendous energy and a great enthusiasm for life. Otherwise known as the “house of noise” Joe encouraged his children to debate, compete and challenge themselves.
Without fanfare, he quietly worked to make a difference in his community. He chaired the local library board to address issues related to book banning as well as spearheaded a major overhaul of the main regional library. Long before Title IX, Joe provided athletic opportunities for the girls of Yorktown Heights giving them equal access to sports by
establishing “leagues of our own” in softball, basketball and volleyball.
For 35 years Joe worked for IBM serving as a tax attorney on real estate projects. He loved Big Blue and never tired of touring his kids around to the latest building site.
Joe is survived by his children: Mary; Patrick and his wife Inger; Joe and his wife Shannon; Susan and her husband Ben; Nancy and her spouse, Gary.
Joseph also enjoyed the antics as well as the accomplishments of his beloved eleven grandchildren, Joe, Bridie, Sean, Danielle, Erin, Briege, Jamie, Joe, Nick, Kiera, and Jake. To the very end simply spending time with them brought him sheer joy.
Facetiming with his three great grandchildren Mackenzie, Clark, and Benjamin brought a smile of delight each and every time.
Those close to him know him as G-Pa, Papa, Dad, Old Man, The Brooklyn Boy and Dada. His one liners, masterful eye rolls, hearty laughs, and love of crumb cake were legendary. He was a warm soul who adopted “Be Kind, Be Kind, Be Kind,” as his personal mantra. He woke his young kids up each morning with, “make it a great day” letting them know that they had the ability to chart the course of their lives.
An avid sports fan, Joe was raised on the Brooklyn Dodgers, The NY Football Giants and The Knicks. Later in life he adopted the Mets to fill the void left by the departure of his Dodgers to the left coast.
He had a full life with much love, laughter, and spunk which never seemed to get those twinkling Irish eyes into trouble. A stranger he never knew and friends he had were legion. His Mary was his love above all. In her he had his true partner, his equal in love for the Catholic faith, family, and one another.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The American Lung Association, The National Kidney Foundation, The American Cancer Society.
Out of respect and concern for public health and safety, funeral services are to be held privately for the family. A Celebration of Life will be arranged at a future date.
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