Obituary for Catherine Regina Daly (McCarthy)
Catherine R. Daly, formerly of Natick, died peacefully July 25, at the age of 100. She had been living the past few months at the home of her granddaughter Emily Kennerly in Belmont.
Catherine grew up in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts. After high school she attended the Bishop Memorial School of Nursing in Pittsfield and qualified as a registered nurse, entering a profession that she pursued, formally and informally, for the rest of her life.
She served in World War II in the Army Nurse Corps, going overseas in 1943. There she performed service as a head nurse in operating rooms with the 120th Station Hospital in England, France, and finally in occupied Germany, returning home in late 1946 with the rank of captain.
Catherine was married for 58 years to William M. Daly, who like her had grown up in West Stockbridge and served in the Army during the war. Bill became a professor at Boston College, and they settled in Natick.
During their years in Natick Catherine, while raising three children, worked as a nurse at the Leonard Morse Hospital and in private duty. In the 1960’s, in her 40’s, she returned to school and obtained her Bachelor of Science degree from the Boston University School of Nursing. She then worked for many years at the Veterans Hospital in Jamaica Plain, primarily as an instructor of nurses’ aides. Catherine was known on Roxbury Avenue in Natick, and elsewhere, as a person to call when someone was ill or dying.
Bill Daly, her husband, died in 2005. One child, Honora, died shortly after birth in the early 1950’s. Catherine is survived by three children - Michael Daly (Beth) of Manlius, New York, Patricia Daly Vance (Alex) of Avon, Connecticut, and William F. Daly of Leicester, Massachusetts - and by six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. During her final months, two of her great-grandchildren who lived with her or nearby – Noah Kennerly (now age three) and Jonathan Astrom (now age ten ) – were her greatest source of joy.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday, September 10, at 11:00 a.m., at St. Paul’s Church in Cambridge. The family will receive friends and well-wishers in the vestibule of St. Paul’s from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. and again after the Mass. The Rite of Committal and burial will take place on Sunday, September 11 at 1:00 p.m., at St. Patrick’s Cemetery in West Stockbridge. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to Catholic Charities of Boston, 215 West Broadway, Boston, MA 02127.
Catherine grew up in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts. After high school she attended the Bishop Memorial School of Nursing in Pittsfield and qualified as a registered nurse, entering a profession that she pursued, formally and informally, for the rest of her life.
She served in World War II in the Army Nurse Corps, going overseas in 1943. There she performed service as a head nurse in operating rooms with the 120th Station Hospital in England, France, and finally in occupied Germany, returning home in late 1946 with the rank of captain.
Catherine was married for 58 years to William M. Daly, who like her had grown up in West Stockbridge and served in the Army during the war. Bill became a professor at Boston College, and they settled in Natick.
During their years in Natick Catherine, while raising three children, worked as a nurse at the Leonard Morse Hospital and in private duty. In the 1960’s, in her 40’s, she returned to school and obtained her Bachelor of Science degree from the Boston University School of Nursing. She then worked for many years at the Veterans Hospital in Jamaica Plain, primarily as an instructor of nurses’ aides. Catherine was known on Roxbury Avenue in Natick, and elsewhere, as a person to call when someone was ill or dying.
Bill Daly, her husband, died in 2005. One child, Honora, died shortly after birth in the early 1950’s. Catherine is survived by three children - Michael Daly (Beth) of Manlius, New York, Patricia Daly Vance (Alex) of Avon, Connecticut, and William F. Daly of Leicester, Massachusetts - and by six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. During her final months, two of her great-grandchildren who lived with her or nearby – Noah Kennerly (now age three) and Jonathan Astrom (now age ten ) – were her greatest source of joy.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday, September 10, at 11:00 a.m., at St. Paul’s Church in Cambridge. The family will receive friends and well-wishers in the vestibule of St. Paul’s from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. and again after the Mass. The Rite of Committal and burial will take place on Sunday, September 11 at 1:00 p.m., at St. Patrick’s Cemetery in West Stockbridge. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to Catholic Charities of Boston, 215 West Broadway, Boston, MA 02127.