The Mass at St. Joseph's church will be livestreamed. For all those interested please click on the Virtual Funeral Mass Link. The link will be active on Friday, October 16th at 12:00 PM

Edward J. McLoughlin On Sunday, October 11, 2020, Edward J. McLoughlin, loving husband and father of 9 children passed away at the age of 89. Edward was born in Reennanallagane, Glenbeigh, County Kerry, Ireland and grew up in Rearcross, County Tipperary, Ireland. He worked for the New York Telephone company as a lineman and repairman climbing poles and installing home telephones. He is survived by his loving wife of 59 years Mary, a Connemara girl whom he met at an Irish dance in New York City. He and Mary lived in Astoria for a few years and eventually moved their growing family to Bellerose, Queens. He was father to 9 children: Brendan, Maureen (Glenday), Edward, Michael, Bernadette, Eileen (Devine), Cathy (Mroczka), John and Patricia (Valentine). He also has 19 grandchildren, 1 great grandchild with another on the way. He will be remembered for his Sunday trips to Reinwald’s Bakery for jelly donuts, taking our family to Rockaway Beach with a stop at the Irish Circle on the way home, family vacations to Gavin’s and the Shamrock House in the Catskills and Gaelic Park on Sundays. Edward and Mary would take the kids to family swim and swim lessons at Eastern Queens YMCA creating a legacy of collegiate swimmers and Jones Beach lifeguards. He made sure that everyone attended Sunday Mass at St. Gregory the Great by collecting bulletins from each child. What do you do with a station wagon full of kids when you wife needs a break from them? You take them to Kennedy Airport and let them watch the planes take off right next to the runway and run around and make all the noise that they wanted.

He was famous for short, unannounced visits, quick departures, handwritten words of wisdom to his family and feeding his grand dogs under the table no matter how many times he was asked not to feed them. He was extremely proud of his Irish heritage and equally proud that he became an American citizen and served in the United States Air Force during the Korean War. He enjoyed all that Irish culture had to offer especially the food and the music. He liked to dance, played the saxophone and he even tried to learn the accordion. He liked to think he could speak Gaelic and would throw words and phrases around whenever he could. He loved his morning swims at the Freeport Recreation Center, spending time with his family and making sure that someone always took a picture. He was the eldest of 14 and is survived by 7 of his siblings: Anthony, William, Teresa (Macchia), Eileen (Graves), James, Josie (Williams) and Maryann (McNamara).

Donations can be made in Edward's memory to: The National Down Syndrome Society (www.NDSS.org) Multiple Sclerosis Society (www.nationalmssociety.org) Autism Speaks (www.autismspeaks.org).