We came face to face only two or three times over the last 50 years, yet Ms. “Peg” was always near to my heart. Tommy's Mom was an incredibly special lady to me. She was special because I could hear the love and admiration from Tom or Jim any time they spoke of their mother. Back in our TCU days, Peg would send us care packages with all the makings for a spaghetti dinner. Each ingredient she carefully and lovingly measured out and packaged (including the step-by-step instructions). Still the best spaghetti I have ever had. Over all these years I tried to remember to ask Tom how "Peg" was doing and enjoyed the stories he told about your family get-togethers and how vibrant a life she continued to live. I am glad she lived such a long, fulfilled and wonderful life, loving her family and being loved by all of you. Rest peacefully Ms. Peg. 
Theron Morrow, Texas


Rick's memories of Peg (pt. 2)
Peg lived to see her children’s children grow up to be fine adults and then to watch her childrens’ childrens’ children come into this world over the past 13 years.  One of her last photos was with her great granddaughters Willa and Rose who had visited her at Christmas. Peg was in her favorite living room chair (the chair  in which she would have her morning coffee while reading Newsday and the chair in which  she would watch her favorite evening TV shows (Golden Girls, Murder She Wrote) while knitting the lovely blankets for her grandchildren and then, in her later years, for her great grandchildren!! 
The Irish have many poems for celebrating the lives of those we’ve loved and have now departed. I will offer from an anonymous Irish poet:
Those we love don't go away;
They walk beside us every day.
Unseen, unheard but always near.
Sill loved, still missed, and very dear..."
Rest in Peace, Margaret Ryan Patrey Furlong


Rick's memories of Peg (pt 1):
 In her 96 years, Peg lived an extraordinary life. As one of three Ryan sisters (Peg was the quiet sister) growing up in Elmhurst, she learned many values that she carried with her throughout her long life.  Peg had a deep, quiet strength and resolve that carried her through the many challenges in her life. In the 1960s, she was a young wife with a growing family settling into the suburban frontier known as Houston. And then one day her world turned upside down when she lost her husband Dick and was faced with raising her three children – 16-year-old Jim, 14-year-old Patricia, and Tom who was just 10 when he lost his father. We should all pause to contemplate the strength and grit of Peg as she kept her family stable as a single mother for the next four years. And then, equally as remarkable, she took a leap of faith to move back to Long Island and marry her second husband (not 
sure if it helped close the deal when the marriage proposal was made by another Richard also was nicknamed “Dick”!) . Then she entered the next stage of her life where she took on yet another extraordinary challenge of blending her family with the Furlongs. Many stories have been shared about those early years when she moved her family into 15 Wilshire – shopping and cooking for a family of 9 hungry souls, the first Christmas where the toys and gifts overwhelmed the living room and den, bonding with year old Anne, the extraordinary experience of first savoring her chocolate chip cookies and sour cream cake (her recipes have been shared but never fully equaled). In coming days, I know many more Peg stories will be shared by all of us who knew, loved, and respected her.

OBITUARY

Margaret R. Furlong

October 27, 1926 – May 21, 2023

Beney Funeral Home

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