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Mary Shuart, daughter of Ireland and America, dies

BY ZACHARY R. DOWDY | zachary.dowdy@newsday.com

May 6, 2008

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Family was first and foremost to Mary Shuart of Albertson, a Cavan, Ireland, native who was as proud of being Irish as being born on the same date marking her adopted country's independence.

A great-grandmother to five, grandmother to 15, and mother of five, she died at a Long Island hospice yesterday. She was 81.

"The thing that she was proudest of was her family," said Patrick Purcell, Shuart's son-in-law and publisher of the Boston Herald newspaper and former publisher of the New York Post, adding that Shuart had a "love of life."

Born Mary Sheridan on July 4, 1926, she was "deeply admired for her sense of style and her great beauty," said a death notice submitted by her family. "She was a true lady."

Purcell, speaking during the viewing for Shuart at Weigand Funeral Home in Williston Park last night, said the event was well attended.

"It was filled with family and friends and it was a great tribute to her life," he said.

Besides Purcell, Shuart is survived by her daughters, Maureen Purcell, Elizabeth Flagler and Kathleen Downing, Downing's husband, Frank, and siblings, James, Margaret and Daniel Sheridan.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated today at 10 a.m. at Church of St. Aidan in Williston Park. Burial will follow at Mount St. Mary's Cemetery in Flushing.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the charity of the donor's choice.

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