Catherine and Jack Sharkey of Valley Stream die within day of each other

Catherine and Jack Sharkey were committed to their community, their two sons and to each other in their 67 years of marriage — until their deaths one day apart.

For decades, the couple made a popular duo in Valley Stream, both active in local politics, and with their sons’ Valley Stream Green Hornets football team and as reliable confidants who gave good advice, family members said. 

Jack, an Air Force veteran who later worked as a Pan Am data entry supervisor and Hempstead Town payroll director, served as Valley Stream deputy mayor and trustee from 1987 to 1991 and the master of ceremonies at Valley Stream’s Memorial Day parades for more than 30 years. He was the Green Hornets’ longtime announcer and football coach. In 2021, he was honored when village officials named the press box after him at Firemen’s Field.

Catherine had been a school lunch monitor and mortgage analyst before becoming a caseworker for then-Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre). She had served as president of the Valley Stream Republican Club and president of the Green Hornets Mothers Club.

“They were great people and people loved them,” said their younger son, Darren Sharkey of Valley Stream. “Both of them were really strong in family values and staying together with the family. They were content living a modest lifestyle. They didn’t have wants. They weren’t into buying extravagant stuff or the flashiest car on the block or the clothes. They looked presentable, they looked nice and they provided for us.”

Catherine Sharkey died at a nursing home April 3 at age 87 after trying to recover during the past year and a half from various health problems, starting with falls that resulted in broken hips. 

Jack Sharkey, diagnosed recently with lymphoma, died at a hospital April 4 at age 92, two hours after his son Michael whispered to him that his wife was gone. 

Their last year or two apart had “crushed” their father and probably contributed to their mother’s mental decline, their family said.

“They did everything together,” said Michael Sharkey of East Rockaway.

The two had grown up on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, where they met at a party when Catherine noticed Jack walking toward her and asked her friend, “Is he cute?’’ 

Joan Connolly, Jack’s older sister, said the two had much in common and noted how their views were shaped by the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club. While taking advantage of the club’s sports, theater and summer camp programs, they absorbed the club’s lessons of being helpful, fair and kind, traits Jack and Catherine valued in each other, the sister said.

“They understood each other; they came from the same neighborhood, knew the same people and just had more or less the same background,” said Connolly of Valley Stream. “They got along and were comfortable with each other.”

They married in 1956, after Jack Sharkey was discharged from the Air Force. He had served stateside in the cargo logistics section during the Korean War, and the polio he contracted during that time began to affect his hand muscles and spine, his son Darren said.

They wanted children, but when Catherine Sharkey had a miscarriage and underwent a hysterectomy, the couple adopted baby Michael from a Manhattan orphanage. A couple of years later, they adopted Darren, who they knew was destined to be their second child because he cried in everyone’s arms but Jack’s.

The two made sure their boys never wanted for anything, their sons said. Their father took a second job because his boys wanted to go to the private Chaminade High School, and he skimped on sleep after his night job at Pan Am to watch his sons’ day games. The couple faithfully attended all their sons’ matches, with Catherine, the quieter of the two, shouting encouragement, and their father whistling his kudos. If their sons’ games were held at the same time, each parent would attend one game and switch the next time their children’s game times conflicted.

As a youth football and baseball coach, Jack Sharkey treated players like his own children and made sure every child got to play in every game, his family said.

Catherine Sharkey was equally mindful, never letting political leanings get in the way of helping someone.

“There were plenty of people who said, ‘If it wasn’t for your mom, I wouldn’t be where I am today’ or that problem wouldn’t be solved if it wasn’t for my mom,” their elder son said. “She was just like my dad. They never turned anybody down. They were always helpful to people.”

Their Poconos vacation place illustrated how they defined happiness as family and shared experiences, Darren Sharkey said: “When they went to the Poconos, they would bring us, two other families and we’d have great times. They wanted to share time with other people, not get away from people.”

A funeral Mass was celebrated April 11 at Holy Name of Mary Church in Valley Stream, followed by burial at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.