Patricia Elizabeth O’Malley

Patricia Elizabeth O’Malley, 59, died Friday, September 11, 2015 at Merwick in Plainsboro.

Born in Trenton, she grew up in Titusville, where she resided for 34 years. She has lived in Princeton Junction at the Benford Group Home managed by Enable, Inc. for the past 20 years.

Patricia was proud to have graduated from the Lanning School Special Education Program in 1977. She participated in day programs at Mercer ARC from 1977 to 2011, when she retired from working at A Touch of Taste, the only full-service food and catering company staffed by people with developmental disabilities in Mercer County. Since her retirement she has happily participated in the Enable, Inc. recreational day program, where she volunteered with Meals on Wheels.

Patricia loved people, especially her family. She had a great sense of humor and was always up for a good party. Patricia loved to travel, near and far, to help in the kitchen, to do art projects and to knit. She will be remembered as a person who met life’s challenges with a smile on her face and love in her heart.

Patricia was predeceased by her devoted parents, Joseph and Elizabeth O’Malley, both of whom were instrumental in the establishment of Mercer ARC. Patricia is a direct descendent of Richard Warren and Edward Fuller both of whom landed in Plymouth on the Mayflower in 1620.  Her great-great-grandfather, Francis M. Shaw, who fought for the Union, kept a diary during his incarceration in Andersonville Prison during the Civil War.  The diary is on display at the War College in Carlisle, Pa. Her great-grandmother, Edith Shaw Jones, was an author whose book, Dear Teacher, was published in 1945.

Patricia is survived by her aunt Catherine Foley O’Malley; by nine first cousins including her guardian for the past 15 years Maureen O’Malley Baus, Matthew, Harry, Francis, Gerard, Bonnie, Charles and Patrick O’Malley and Suellen Waters-Sims; and by her dear friends, Beth and Jack Herman and Izabela Andrzeczyk. Patricia is also survived by her Benford housemates of 20 years, Jill Camlet, Bette Kappeler, Denise Lesko and Bernice Nolan.

The funeral will be held on Saturday, September 19 with a Mass of Christian Burial being celebrated at 10 a.m. at St. David the King Church, One New Village Road, Princeton Junction. Friends may call at the Church from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Interment will be in Our Lady of Lourdes Cemetery, Trenton following Mass. Arrangements are under the direction of the Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Patricia’s name to Enable, Inc., 13 Roszel Road, Princeton, NJ, 08540.

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