Obituary of Doris H. Sharkey

Doris Halliwell Sharkey passed away peacefully on Thursday April 14 at the age of 92. She was a resident of Essex Meadows in Essex, CT for the past ten years, and a resident of Fairfield, CT for the previous 30 years. Doris Halliwell was born August 3, 1918 in Newark, NJ, the only child of Charles H.J. Halliwell, Jr. and Emma Stemmler Halliwell. In 1934 she was valedictorian of Benedictine Academy in Elizabeth, NJ, and earned her bachelor’s degree from Rosemont College in 1938. For the next five years she worked as a radio advertising buyer with the Young and Rubicam advertising agency in New York before marrying Thomas Dunne Sharkey in 1943. Together they had eight children and lived in North Caldwell, NJ before moving to Fairfield, CT in 1971. After Mr. Sharkey’s death in 1979, Mrs. Sharkey returned to the University of Bridgeport to pursue a master’s degree, becoming a certified grief counselor in 1981. For the next 20 years she worked with THEOS and the Diocese of Bridgeport, CT helping the recently widowed cope with their own loss. She continued to coordinate various lecture programs at Essex Meadows until last fall. In addition to her husband, Mrs. Sharkey was predeceased by her son Kevin Sharkey. She is survived by her four daughters and their husbands -- Heather and David Kostka of Colts Neck, NJ, Maura and Tod Eagle of Brockport, NY, Eileen Sharkey of Stamford, CT, and Mary Lee and Joseph Gaffney of Hamden, CT -- and three sons and their wives -- Thomas and Eileen Sharkey of Andover, MA, Brian Sharkey and Lorraine Lombardi of Bloomfield, NJ, and J. Brendan Sharkey of Hamden, CT. Eleven grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren also carry on her legacy. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Robinson Wright & Weymer Funeral Home, 34 Main Street, Centerbrook, CT. Calling hours will be Sunday April 17 from 3-6 pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 9:30 am on Monday April 18 at St. Patrick-St. Anthony Church, 285 Church Street, Hartford, CT with interment to follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, 225 Ridgedale Avenue, East Hanover, NJ. In lieu of flowers, donations are requested in Doris Halliwell Sharkey’s name to Benedictine Academy Development Office, 840 North Broad Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07208.