![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.dagonfuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Eileen-Connors-Photo.png\")
Mary Eileen Connors \u2013 81 \u2013 of Hornell, NY passed away peacefully at home on December 31, 2019 surrounded by her family.<\/p>\nMary Eileen Connors \u2013 81 \u2013 of Hornell, NY passed away peacefully at home on December 31, 2019 surrounded by her family.<\/p>\n
Born in Hornell on May 7, 1938, she was the daughter of Francis and Annabell (Hyland) Gleason.<\/p>\n
Eileen was a graduate of Hornell High School Class of 1956 and later graduated from Mercy Hospital School of Nursing (Class of 1959). She had been a communicant of St Ignatius Loyola Church and more recently was a member of \u00a0Our Lady of the Valley Parish and a communicant of St. Ann\u2019s Church.\u00a0 She was a life member of the Hornell Alumni Association and also a member of the Ladies Ancient Order of Hiberians.<\/p>\n
She had been employed at St. James Mercy Hospital from 1961-1963 and again in 1983-2000.\u00a0 After leaving St. James, she worked for three years at Barb Todd\u2019s Daycare where she was fondly known as Grandma Eileen.\u00a0 She later served as a substitute school nurse in the Hornell City School District for many years.<\/p>\n
Eileen battled breast cancer for nearly three decades, never complaining about her personal hardships while maintaining an unbelievably positive attitude even as the disease returned time and time again. She showed everyone around her how to handle life\u2019s challenges with grace, dignity and a smile on her warm Irish face.<\/p>\n
Despite the personal tragedies she endured in her life, Eileen never questioned her faith and was a regular fixture at church on Sunday. When things got tough, she prayed harder and harder.<\/p>\n
Eileen adored her children and was happiest relishing the simple moments of sharing stories and laughing around the kitchen table or campfire. She relished the opportunity to attend her grandchildren\u2019s upcoming sporting events, graduations, band concerts, plays and dances, always around to cheer them on or lend an encouraging word.<\/p>\n
Having the humility to laugh at herself, she often tattling on herself for something silly she\u2019d done or her latest misstep. She was at her brightest when flanked by sister, Annie, her \u201cpartner-in-crime.\u201d \u00a0She enjoyed raising a glass and giving a good toast, although it was a good bet she\u2019d leave the crowd around her roaring at her misplaced verse.<\/p>\n
A diehard Buffalo Bills fan, she survived four Super Bowl losses, but still loved her \u201chometown\u201d NFL team.<\/p>\n
She was married February 24, 1962 at St. Ignatius Church to Gerard \u201cBuz\u201d Connors who died February 7, 1992.\u00a0 She was also preceded in death by a son Kevin (1978); her sister and brother-in-law Ann and Chuck Smith; and three brothers-in-law, James and William Connors and John Conti; her nephew, Trooper Lawrence P. Gleason; and cousins Abbott Gabriel, Tom and Jim Gibbs.<\/p>\n
Surviving are her daughters Colleen (Mark) Argentieri and Erin (Steve ) Reed; her sons Dan (Karen) Connors and Tom (Kathy) Connors; her \u201cbrothers\u201d James (Linda) Gleason and Larry (Rosemary) Gleason; her nieces Susan (Brian) Butler, Bridget (Steve) Minisce, Kate (Chris) Secondo, Shannon (Jim) Kuhn and Tracy Kneer; her nephews\u00a0 Scott (Laurie) Smith and Tim Gleason; and her godson, Tim Connors.\u00a0 She is also survived by her grandchildren, Eric (Nicolette Tse) Argentieri,\u00a0 Dan (Alyssa) Argentieri, Meaghan, Danika, Lara and Adison Connors, Connor and Callahan Reed, Nick (Rheannon) Coleman, Seanna (Jameson) Gifford and Chris Coleman; her great-grandchildren, Maveric Argentieri, Julia, Shane, Trey and Liam Simpson, Owen and Meah Starner, Raelyn and Ella Gifford and Loralai Coleman; great nieces and nephews Matthew and Luke Smith, Emily, Kayla and Tom Kuhn, Mia Butler, Anna Updyke and Scotty Minisce; her cousins Mary Margaret Doran, Mary Catherine and Kathleen Gibbs; her in-laws Katie, George and Barbara Connors and Joan Conti; many nieces and nephews.<\/p>\n
The family of Eileen Connors will receive friends on Friday from 4:00 PM \u2013 7:00 PM at the Dagon Funeral Home, 38 Church St., Hornell, NY.\u00a0 <\/strong>A mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday at 1:00 PM at St. Ann\u2019s Church with burial in St. Ann\u2019s Cemetery.<\/p>\n Eileen\u2019s family request that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in her name be made to the Hornell Alumni Association, PO Box 135, Hornell, NY 14843.\u00a0 Memorial forms will be available at the Dagon Funeral Home.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mary Eileen Connors \u2013 81 \u2013 of Hornell, NY passed away peacefully at home on December 31, 2019 surrounded by her family. Born in Hornell on May 7, 1938, she was the daughter of Francis and Annabell (Hyland) Gleason. Eileen was a graduate of Hornell High School Class of 1956 and later graduated from Mercy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-obituaries"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dagonfuneralhome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dagonfuneralhome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dagonfuneralhome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dagonfuneralhome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dagonfuneralhome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4047"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dagonfuneralhome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4049,"href":"https:\/\/www.dagonfuneralhome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4047\/revisions\/4049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dagonfuneralhome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dagonfuneralhome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dagonfuneralhome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}