Catherine "Katie" (Dillon) Shea

Catherine (nee Dillon) Shea, 87, passed away peacefully at the Marist Hill Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Waltham, Massachusetts on March 17, 2025. She was the beloved mother of Gerard Shea (Madoka), Maureen Shea (Ken Jacques), and Julia Shea (Rick Sheehy), and the loving grandmother of Jake and Dillon Shea. She was pre-deceased by her husband, Gerard Shea. She is also pre-deceased by her loving sisters Joan Sangunitto (Leon) and Maureen Pielli (Arthur) and her brothers Michael Dillon (Anne) and Bobby Dillon.

Catherine, known as Katie to family and friends, grew up in Brooklyn, New York and attended Prospect Heights High School. She then attended St. Vincent’s Hospital School of Nursing in Manhattan, NY, where she earned her nursing degree in 1958. Katie loved being a nurse and worked at several hospitals, including St. Vincent’s and as the head nurse at Brooklyn Jewish Hospital. Her devotion to her patients was always clear in the stories she shared with her family and friends. She believed in the value of service, and this was reflected in both her personal and professional life.

In 1970, she married Gerard Shea at St. Teresa of Avila Church, in the parish where they both grew up. Katie and Jerry had known each other since childhood, and they reconnected after a serendipitous meeting at the Barleycorn Bar on a chilly Manhattan night. Katie and Jerry raised three children with love and care on Garfield Place in Ridgewood, New Jersey. Gerry is a librarian at Seton Hall University; Maureen is an Acquisitions Assistant at Boston College Libraries; and Julia is a social worker.

Her children fondly remember the summer trips she planned during their childhoods. One great memory was the trip to Ireland and the United Kingdom with her mother (Nanny to her grandchildren) where they met their Irish relatives and visited Listowel in County Kerry, their grandfather’s hometown. Another unforgettable adventure was the cross-country train trip to California, even if they traveled by coach (and it is hard to sleep on a train). The silver lining to sleepless nights was seeing the Joshua trees at dawn. A highlight of that trip was staying with mom’s sister Joan’s family in San Diego, where the pool and jacuzzi were a big hit—especially after the train ride. The family also treasures the summer trips to Long Beach Island, where they spent time with their mom’s sister Maureen’s family.

Katie passions included reading, tackling the New York Times crossword puzzle (she looked forward to Saturday’s challenge), celebrating her Irish heritage (both her parents were from County Kerry), and spending time with family and friends. She was a devoted grandmother to Jake and Dillon, helping with daycare when the boys were young. She always had treats for the boys, and they especially looked forward to sharing ice cream with their grandma. Gerry, Madoka, and the boys have cherished memories of spaghetti and meatball dinners at 27 Garfield, where the boys would entertain grandma and grandpa with jokes. She also loved going to theater performances in Manhattan with Jerry and her sister, Maureen, and brother-in-law Arthur. She eagerly anticipated meeting family and friends each year at the Saint Patrick’s Day parade in New York, and as her nephew Patrick Pielli wrote after learning of her passing, “I like to think she wanted to meet up with Uncle Jerry and our parents to watch the Parade on 5th Avenue.”

A funeral mass will be held on Friday, March 21, at 3 p.m. in the chapel at the Marist Hill Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Waltham, Massachusetts.

A celebration of life ceremony will be held in New Jersey in April. The family will provide further details at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations in Katie’s memory to Marist Hill Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.