Mom was born on October 11, 1933 in the Bronx, the first daughter and the third of seven children born to Charles and Mary McGrath. She went to Blessed Sacrament school along with her brothers, and then went to St. Gabriel’s High School. There she met a girl from Mount Vernon named Peggy Talbot, who eventually introduced her to a cousin from Yonkers, a guy named Tom Ahearn.

After high school she went to business school and then out to work. She worked as a secretary for two years before she and Tom married on January 9, 1954. He had been drafted and was serving in Austria. After a small ceremony at Blessed Sacrament Church and a dinner at O’Hagan’s restaurant, they got on a train to Plattsburg, New York, to visit Mom‘s oldest brother, Charlie, who was in the seminary there at the time. Then off to Austria for the adventure of a lifetime! It amazes all of us to think of the courage our Mom had to just pick up and move so far away from her family and friends to be with her new husband and to start their life together in a strange country.

They came home about a year and a half later with a beautiful daughter, Judy Marie, whose life was tragically cut short when she was a little more than one. Thankfully, they already had Eileen by that time. They went on to have Tom the next year. As they moved from New Rochelle to Yonkers, back to New Rochelle and then to Bergenfield, they also added Michael, Kathy, Laurie, Jen and Terry to their family. Mom was a resident and active member of the Bergenfield community for 38 years.

Mary Anne was an at-home mom for many years, managing the home and doing all the tasks that moms who work at home do. One of her outstanding skills was managing the household expenses. She had an elaborate system of envelopes; one for groceries, one for clothes, one for medical expenses and so forth. She might borrow from one if expenses were up in another category, but she always repaid the loan. When her older children started getting jobs she kept envelopes for them too.

While her children were students at St. John’s the Evangelist Grammar School, she volunteered at the school library. After her family was mostly raised, she got a job at the Bergenfield Free Public Library. A lifelong reader, it was a natural fit for her. And since she didn‘t drive, it was great that it was just a short walk away from the house. Mom loved working for the library and enjoyed spending time with the patrons, discussing everything from books to grandchildren.

Life as we knew it changed dramatically in August of 1989, when Mom was 57 years old. One night Mom suffered a massive heart attack, which destroyed two thirds of her heart. Apparently, it was not the first heart attack that she had had. The next year was a very frightening time for all of us. Mom would come home from the hospital, only to be rushed back in a few days later. Her heart was no longer strong enough to keep working properly and during this time she would be in the hospital for weeks at a time. In July of 1990 the cardiologist that was treating her laid it on the line for all of us – Mom’s only hope was a heart transplant. In 1990 the concept of heart transplant was still relatively new, and very scary. It was at this time that she was sent to Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Dr. Mark Zucker became an important part of all our lives. After undergoing all the testing, both physical and psychological, Mom was put on the Transplant List – and the waiting began. We were all hoping and praying for that beeper to go off, while watching Mom grow weaker and getting worse by the day.  

On November 17, 1990 Mom, who had been admitted to Newark Beth Israel a few weeks earlier, was being sent home, as, unless a heart became available immediately, there was not much more they could do for her. But, luck was on our side – that same morning we received the call we had been waiting for – Dr. Zucker said that there might be a heart for Mom and that heart was only 2 miles away. Now a different type of waiting began. While my Father and sisters ran to the hospital to be with Mom, the rest of us waited by the phone. Every hour we would get updates, and then finally, Dr. Zucker called and said that the heart was a 90% match and they were moving forward to the operation. At this point, after picking up film at the request of Dr. Zucker, about 15 family members camped out in a waiting room, where we ordered pizza, played Trivial Pursuit and prayed like we never had before. After a very long day, we finally got the news we hoped for – the operation had been a huge success and my Mom now had the heart of a 16 year old boy beating inside her. We never knew who the donor was, but we will always be grateful to his family that during their time of loss, they were able to give the gift of life to our Mom. When they brought Mom up from the operating room, you could hardly see her – between the tubes, wires, and the fact that she was so thin from being so sick. But, what we could see was that for the first time in over a year, there was some color in cheeks again – the heart was definitely working!!

Mom was only the 11th heart transplant ever to be done at NBIMC, and amazingly, the fourth that week. We were stunned to hear that her heart had been in the worst condition of them all. Dr. Zucker later told us that when they went to remove her old her heart, it just fell apart – that still amazes us!

During the next 12 years life went on - Mom got stronger and returned to work at the Library. She continued to travel with Dad, including trips to London, Ireland and across the United States. She was with us for weddings, births of her grandchildren and to be involved in and an important part of our every day lives. She began to speak to others who were being put on the Transplant waiting list about her experience, as well as becoming involved in some Transplant Organizations.

As time went on, we began to think that she would be with us forever. What we weren’t prepared for was a sneak attack. On May 15, 2002 Mom was diagnosed with lung cancer, which was already in early stage IV. Mom wanted to fight this latest battle as fiercely as she fought her last. Unfortunately, after being on immune suppressant drugs for 12 years, her first chemotherapy treatment brought out a virus that had been laying dormant and after 4 weeks in the MICU of Hackensack Medical Center, she passed away on July 16, 2002 at the age of 68. Our grief was overpowering, but we all tried to remind ourselves over and over how blessed we were that her heart transplant had been so successful and gave us 12 amazing years with her. Years that we almost didn’t have. We often wonder how long her new heart might have kept beating, if cancer hadn’t suddenly appeared.

Our goal is to honor our Mom by raising awareness about Organ Donation, as well as raising funds for the Heart Transplant Program at Newark Beth Israel. By signing up to be an organ donor, you may someday have the opportunity to give the most amazing gift to another - the gift of life and of hope for a future.