Mary Hurley

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Longtime Staten Islander Mary Hurley, 77, of Tottenville, a retired registered nurse affectionately known as Meemah, a name given her by her grandchildren, died Monday in Staten Island University Hospital, Prince's Bay.

Born Mary Flaherty in Somerville, Mass., she grew up in New England and lived in Vermont, Maine and Connecticut before moving to Tompkinsville in 1969. She later settled in Tottenville.

Mrs. Hurley earned an associate's degree from the Catherine Laboure School of Nursing in Boston.

She was a registered nurse for 43 years, 27 of them at the former Richmond Memorial Hospital, now called SIUH in Prince's Bay. She spent 10 years working in the emergency room, and later was a nurse for 12 years in the methadone clinic.

Mrs. Hurley dearly loved her job, which was a true reflection of her personality, said her daughter, Maura Micciulla.

She cared deeply for all living things, Ms. Micciulla said. She dedicated her life to helping others.

Mrs. Hurley loved singing and playing the piano and was a member of Sweet Adelines International, a world-renowned singing group.

She also enjoyed cooking and baking, ballroom dancing and listening to music from the 1940s and 1950s, and loved being around animals.

Along with her daughter, Maura, surviving are her son, Michael; her daughter, Caitlin Flaherty; four grandchildren, and a great-grandson.

The funeral will be Monday from the Brown and Hickey Funeral Home, Belmont, Mass., with a mass at 9 a.m. in St. Peter's R.C. Church, Cambridge, Mass. Burial will follow in St. Joseph's Cemetery, West Roxbury, Mass. Staten Island arrangements are being handled by the Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home, Tottenville.

Services: Funeral Mass in St. Peter's RC Church Cambridge, Mass.-Monday, August 6,2012 9:00AM Internment-St. Joseph's Cemetery, West Roxbury, MA

Visitation: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home Friday, August 3,2012 2-4 & 7-9

Location: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home