1927 – 2016

PORTLAND — Rosemary Ann Geraghty, 89, passed away peacefully on Friday, July 29, at The Cedars Rehabilitation Facility with the support of Hospice of Southern Maine.

She was born in Burlington, Wis., on May 6, 1927, the third child of five born to George and Agnes (Becker) Krueger. Many of her early years were spent riding her bike, listening to jazz music with her friends and working in her dad’s shoe store. After high school, she studied journalism at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis.

On a blind date, she met her future husband, John (Jack) R. Geraghty and they were married in 1949. They lived many places — Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts and Maine — and, in the process, raised nine children. She spent many of her married years working in public school systems tutoring students with learning disabilities, supporting farm workers and as part of a support group assisting people with mental illnesses in Portland.

She loved playing the piano throughout her life and always had a natural ear for the notes. Rosemary was a voracious reader, loved traveling to the southern coast of Spain and Portugal for many winters with Jack, and was particularly proud of the post-and-beam house that she and Jack built themselves in Bryant Pond. She was the most kind, gentle and loving person to everyone who was a part of her life and will be missed by so many.

Rosemary is survived by seven children, Jeanne Jones of Westbrook, Michael Geraghty and his wife, Gabrielle, of Pleasant Hill, Calif., Megan Bakken and her husband, Thomas, of Moscow, Idaho, Timothy Geraghty and his wife, Nancy, of Marblehead, Mass., Robert Geraghty and his wife, Aurora, of Gorham, Mary Mendes and her husband, Joseph, of Portland, Bridget Cloutier and her husband, Thomas, of Cape Elizabeth; 20 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.

She was predeceased by her husband, John Geraghty of Bryant Pond; her son, Patrick Geraghty of Boston, Mass.; her son, Daniel Geraghty of Brookline, Mass.; and a grandson, Eston Jones of Norway.

Her family wishes to express their great thanks to all of the staff at both The Cedars Skilled Care and Hospice of Southern Maine for their devoted and loving care of Rosemary.

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