Mary Claire McGregor

Mary Claire McGregor, 90, of the Harrogate section of Lakewood, passed away Friday, January 29, 2016 at the Harrogate Healthcare Center in Lakewood, NJ. Mary Claire was born on September 29, 1925 in Elizabeth, NJ. She spent much of her life in Elizabeth until 1960. She later resided in Roselle Park, Shadowlake Village in Middletown, Leisure Village West in Manchester, and lastly in Harrogate in Lakewood, NJ. She spent many winters in Sarasota, Florida.

Her formal education started at Blessed Sacrament School and St. Mary’s High School, both in Elizabeth. Mary Claire, later, earned her B.S. in Nutrition and Dietetics at the College of St. Elizabeth in Convent Station, NJ and her Master of Science degree at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. Her career experience included Hospital Dietitian, Restaurant Food Service Director and then at the Elizabeth Public Schools as a Home Economics teacher and Food Service teacher at Edison Vocational School. She was then appointed Coordinator of Home Economics Education for the Elizabeth Schools, a position she held until her retirement. She was a communicant of St. Mary of the Lake Church, Lakewood and served as an extraordinary minister to the homebound in Harrogate. Mary Claire was predeceased by her parents; Ellen Byrne and Patrick J. McGregor and her sisters; Margaret Lages, Anne McTernan, and Ella McGregor. She is survived by her nephew, James McTernan and his wife Helen; three nieces, Ann M. Binder and her husband William, Mary Ellen M. Soucy and her husband Roger, and Margaret Lages Ivango. She also had five great nieces; Marianne Link, Megan M. Haithcock, Anne McTernan, Katherine McTernan, Helen C. Herbert and her husband Jona. In addition she had five great nephews; Robert Link and his husband Daniel Motta, James Link and his wife Kara, Michael Gregory and his wife Lillian, Kenneth Soucy, Douglas Soucy and his wife Laura. Mary Claire had two great grandnieces, Fallon and Morgan Link and one great grandnephew, Michael Gregory. Visitation will be on Tuesday from 2 to 4 & 7 to 9 pm at the D’Elia Funeral Home, 1300 Vermont Ave., Lakewood, NJ 08701. Her funeral mass will be celebrated 12:00 p.m. Wednesday in the St. Mary of the Lake Church, 43 Madison Ave., Lakewood, NJ 08701. Entombment will follow in the parish cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the St. Vincent de Paul Society of St. Mary of the Lake Church, 43 Madison Ave., Lakewood, NJ 08701. For further information or to post a tribute online, please visit www.deliafuneralhome.com