Kathleen Grommell

Kathleen Grommell passed away on July 29, 2014. Born Kathleen Philomena Duffy in Co. Monaghan, Ireland in 1931 to John and Anne Jane Duffy, she was the middle child of seven close siblings. As was typical of the time, the farm she grew up on had no running water or electricity. Kathleen and her siblings walked three miles each way to a one room schoolhouse for their education. With all of her belongings in a single suitcase, Kathleen sailed for New York City on the MV Georgic when she only 19 years old. She got a job working in the kitchen of a wealthy Upper East Side family, traveling with them to Newport, Rhode Island in the summers for a taste of an "Upstairs, Downstairs" life. She met Patrick Grommell, a fellow Irish immigrant, at the Tuxedo Dance Hall in Manhattan and they married on Sept 11, 1954 during Hurricane Edna. They raised their family in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, but Kathleen made sure her children knew that Ireland was a home as well, and only a plane ride away.



Kathleen was generous, always thinking to give first, before thinking of how much she would have left after. Generous with her time as well and unafraid of hard work, Kathleen was a godsend to her daughters when they were raising their families. Kathleen was creative and artistic, and she loved music and dancing and a good story. She had a quick wit, and was always enthusiastic and sometimes even provocative. She loved teddy bears and animals and especially babies, and for the latter affection she earned the nickname "baby hog" because of her insistence on holding any baby that came in sight. In short, life with Kathleen was not dull. She was a joy to be around.



After her various illnesses became too much to handle alone, Kathleen came to Wayne, PA in 2009 to live with her daughter Helen and her family. Kathleen wrote essays about life in WWII-era Ireland for the Wayne Senior Center's Writing Group. Friends, neighbors and St. Katharine of Siena staff and representatives provided the utmost in support and concern for Kathleen over the past five years, and her family is eternally grateful for that.



Kathleen was a supportive wife to Patrick Grommell (deceased); devoted mother to Thomas Grommell, Michael Grommell (deceased), Joan Pentek, and Helen McGrane/mother-in-law to Frank McGrane; and a doting grandmother to Katie Pentek, Keri Pentek and Bobby McGrane. Kathleen adored her six siblings and their spouses and families, including 21 nieces and nephews both in the United States and in Ireland, and their families. The love and admiration she felt for all was reciprocal.



The headmaster of that one-room schoolhouse in Ireland required the children to memorize poetry. Kathleen could still recite many of those poems right up until the day she passed away; one of her favorite's was the "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" by William Butler Yeats. Her family likes to think that Kathleen and all of their beloved departed relatives and friends have found peace by the lake, and that they are together again.



A Memorial Service will be held at St Katharine of Siena Church, 104 S Aberdeen Ave, Wayne, PA 19087, on Saturday, September 13, 2014, with visitation at 10:30 and the Mass beginning at 11:00. Interment is private.



In lieu of flowers, contributions to ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), 321 Norristown Road, Suite 260, Ambler, PA 19002 would be appreciated.