Patricia Elizabeth Donnelly

Pat was 75 and passed peacefully in her sleep on December 10, 2024. Pat is survived by her grandchild, Bloom Spiegelman, her daughter, Erina Spiegelman, her daughter-in-law, Julia Spiegelman, her siblings, Diane Kvilesz, Thomas Doty, John Kvilesz, and Michael McLaughlin, and many beloved nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, and grand-nephews. She was predeceased by her husband of 34 years, Bill Donnelly, who passed away in 2014.

Pat was a retired paralegal, most recently at Brighthouse Financial, where she was celebrated by her colleagues for her impressive range of knowledge, strong work ethic, and wide range of skills such as shorthand. For many years, she worked at Estee Lauder, previously holding the role of Vice President at Vitt Media International and Young & Rubicam advertising firms. She earned her B.A. from Jersey City State College.

Pat loved spending time with her daughter and grandchild and with her many local friends and relatives. She was often to be found reading, knitting, walking her dog Leo at the park at Laurel Hill, going to the opera, and studying Hungarian. She had a 672-day streak on Duolingo at the time of her death. She loved to travel in her retirement, recently taking trips to Hungary, Turkey, Italy, Israel, Jordan, and Ireland. Pat celebrated her friends and family, and always took people as they were. She was kind and generous, a lifelong learner, and a good listener with a caring heart. In the last year of her life, she had the incredible joy of becoming a grandmother and spending weeks at a time in Boston with Bloom.

Friends and relatives are invited for a visitation on Friday from 4:00 - 8:00 pm at Mack Memorial Home, 1245 Paterson Plank Road, Secaucus. The family will gather at the funeral home with their relatives and friends on Saturday at 10:00 for a 10:45 funeral mass at Immaculate Conception Church, Secaucus. Cremation will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Pat may be made in her honor to Planned Parenthood or the Secaucus Animal Shelter.