Eleanor Ann Mulligan

Kingston-

Eleanor Mulligan, 97, a resident of Ten Broeck Commons Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Lake Katrine, NY, passed away on October 21, 2020.  Eleanor was born at home on West 20st in the borough of Manhattan in New York, NY on January 14, 1923.  She was the fourth of five children born to Margaret Cummings Mulligan and John Mulligan.  As an adolescent, Eleanor moved with her family to Astoria, Queens, where she graduated from William Cullen Bryant High School in 1941.  After graduation, she entered the workforce as a bookkeeper at Sunshine Biscuit Company.  To further her career experience, she moved on to H.P. Andrews Paper and Envelope Company and finally George P. Rosenthal Accounting firm in Astoria, NY.  There, Eleanor found her home for over 25 years, working as bookkeeper-tax preparer and making lifelong, cherished friendships.  In retirement and after 70 years in Astoria, Eleanor made her way to Ulster County in 2006, joining her sister Dorothy Henriksen and niece Dorothy DeStefano and her family.
Eleanor was a devout Catholic and she always made her faith and family the center of her life.  She valued prayer and found it to be a source of peace and strength. She kept everyone in her prayers when saying the rosary.  She was a devoted daughter who lived with and cared for her mother. She was a loving and supportive sister to her siblings and a wonderful and caring aunt and grand-aunt to her many nieces and nephews. Eleanor had a great memory and her love of family made her the family historian. Eleanor enjoyed watching EWTN, having a “nice hot cup of tea,” and a slice of Irish soda bread made from her mother’s recipe.  She is pre-deceased by all of her siblings and their spouses: Alice Goldrick (Thomas), John Mulligan (Ann), Virginia Hertling (Herbert), Dorothy Henriksen (Arthur), as well as a nephew, Glenn Hertling.  She will be greatly and sadly missed, but always lovingly remembered by those she leaves behind. She is survived by her three nieces:  Eileen Goldrick Barnacoat (Chris), Margaret Henriksen DiBenedetto (Donald), Dorothy Henriksen DeStefano (Gene) and five nephews: Thomas Goldrick (Sheila), Dennis Mulligan, Kenneth Hertling (Toni), Robert Hertling (Chris), Richard Henriksen, 16 grand-nieces and nephews, and a Goddaughter, Ann Marie Lyden-Dusatko.
 
The DeStefano family extends their thanks and appreciation to the hard working nurses and staff of Ten Broeck Center, especially those of the Dewitt nursing wing, who over the many years have always showed kindness, compassion and loving care to Eleanor, as well as her family. 
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Memoriam to: EWTN   5817 Old Leeds Rd  Irondale, Alabama 35210  https://sd.ewtn.com/father-joseph/  
Or  the Saint Kateri Tekawitha National Shrine in Fonda, NY  :  https://www.katerishrine.com/

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday at 11am at the St. Francis de Sales Church Main St. Phoenicia.  Burial in the family plot at the St. Charles Cemetery in Pinelawn,NY on Thursday at 1pm  Friends will be received on Wednesday morning at the E. B. Gormley Funeral Home 87 Main St. Phoenicia from 9am until Mass time.  You may share a special memory on Eleanor's Tribute Wall at gormleyfuneralhome.com

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Eleanor Ann Mulligan, please visit our floral store.