Elizabeth Carney

Elizabeth Carney, 87, of Richmond Valley, a homemaker who will be remembered for her hospitality and the deep friendships she helped foster, died Monday at home.

The lifelong Staten Islander was born and raised Elizabeth Sullivan in Annadale and graduated from Tottenville High School.

She settled in Richmond Valley in 1962.

During World War II, she was a searcher at Tottenville Beach.

Mrs. Carney was a clerical worker for the former New York Central Railroad. In the 1980s, she was a switchboard operator for six years as the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin at Mount Loretto, and also volunteered for many years at their food pantry.

She was warm and welcoming and generous, and loved to entertain. According to her son, Raymond, the Carney house was the center for family and neighborhood get-togethers.

My mother was a magnet for people, and she brought about long-lasting friendships that remain to this day. Her legacy will be that she opened her heart and home to all, he said.

Mrs. Carney was fond of animals. Strays were always welcome and cared for at the Carney household. She also loved vacationing with her family at Long Beach Island, N.J., and in Maine, where they enjoyed many great times and made wonderful memories.

Mrs. Carney was a parishioner of Our Lady Help of Christians R.C. Church, Tottenville.

Patrick, her husband of 56 years, died in 2004. She also was preceded in death that year by her son, Gary.

In addition to her son, Raymond, surviving are her daughter, Elizabeth Cosgriff, and nine grandchildren.

The funeral will be Friday from the Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home, Tottenville, with a mass at 10:30 a.m. in St. Thomas the Apostle R.C. Church, Pleasant Plains. Burial will follow in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp.

Services: St. Thomas the Apostle RC Church Friday, June 26, 2015 10:30AM

Visitation: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home Wednesday, June 24, 2015 & Thursday, June 25, 2015 from 2-4 & 7-9PM

Memorials: In lieu of flowers, contributions in Elizabeth's name to University Hospice OR Rescue Ridge Animal Shelter PO Box 223 Spring Lake, NJ 07762 would be appreciated.

Cemetery: Moravian Cemetery

Location: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home

Church: St. Thomas The Apostle RC Church