SPRINGFIELD – Maureen Patricia (Conway) Neal passed away on March 19, 2025 just weeks before her 75th birthday, surrounded by her family at Baystate Medical Center. Born in Holyoke to Joseph and Dorothy (Murphy) Conway and a large family of brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins. Maureen was a graduate of Holyoke High School and the University of Massachusetts. She began her professional career in Witness Preparation with District Attorney Matthew J. Ryan. In the next chapter, while helping to raise four children, she became a teacher, a profession she truly loved. First at St. Joseph’s Grammar School and later at Our Lady of Hope Grammar School. She then moved on to the State Auditor’s Office, working for Joe DeNucci and finally with the Springfield Parks Department and Pat Sullivan. When questioned for a newspaper interview during her teaching days about her career choices, she simply stated that helping to raise four children was a very challenging career. Maureen was socially graceful, modest, always kind and stunningly beautiful. Very well-read and of course, being a teacher, homework was always a priority. Maureen never missed her children’s games, recitals or school pageants and enjoyed the excitement of a good and successful campaign. For sports injuries, she was always the caring and capable nurse. Birthday parties for her children were a must and large family Christmas gatherings were always something to look forward to. She was proud of being from Holyoke and proud of her Irish heritage, often recalling her first visit to Ireland with the Leydon’s and the Ryan’s to meet her relatives in Belmullet, County Mayo. A glass of good wine and the simplicity of Cape Cod and Kennebunk Beach walks were favored relaxations. After Maureen’s children became adults, her focus shifted from the Springfield area to the suburbs of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia for numerous visits, holidays and family celebrations spent with her beloved grandchildren. Maureen’s greatest source of joy and pride came from spending time with her grandchildren during those years. All these occasions were filled with love, hugs, laughter and fun. She leaves her husband, U.S. Representative Richard E. Neal, and her four children, Rory (Stacy), Brendan, Maura Fitzpatrick (Ryan), and Sean (Kara), along with ten grandchildren, Grant, Zoe, Walter, Róisín, Desmond, Nieve, Brendan, Giuliana, Mackenzie and Averie. Maureen also leaves her sisters, Kathy (Dan) Owens and Barbara Conway, and brothers, John (Kathy) Conway and Tom Conway, as well as nieces, nephews, cousins and aunts. For more than fifty years, Maureen was a faithful communicant of Sacred Heart Church and could say she almost always made all Lenten services. Many thanks to the staff of Ruth’s House for the kindnesses they offered to Maureen and her family. There are countless reasons to be grateful for her life and the peace she sought. With abiding gratitude to Msgr. George Farland and Msgr. Christopher Connolly, and the late Rev. Hugh Crean for their friendship and support for Maureen and her family all these years, always devoted to the role of Parish Priest. Her funeral will be held on Friday morning, March 28, 2025 beginning at the St. Pierre - Phaneuf Springfield Chapels, (413-737-1177), 7 Chapin Terrace, Springfield, MA 01107 (funeral home will open at 9 a.m.), followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m. in Sacred Heart Church, 395 Chestnut Street, Springfield, MA 01104. Her burial will follow the Mass at Saint Michael Cemetery, 1601 State Street, Springfield, MA 01109. Her family will receive friends at the funeral home on Thursday, March 27, 2025 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Memorial donations may be made to Sacred Heart Church, 395 Chestnut Street, Springfield, MA 01104 or to the Sisters of Saint Joseph, 577 Carew Street, Springfield, MA 01104. For more details and to leave her family condolence messages, please visit: www.stpierrephaneuf.com
