Obituary of Michael J. Conway

Michael J. Conway June 6,1937- April 19, 2022 Freehold, NJ Michael J. Conway was born in Glascloune, County Clare, Ireland, on June 6, 1937. He was the fifth of six children born to Michael J. Conway and Catherine Mahoney Conway. The family grew up on a farm in Glascloune. Mike attended neighborhood Baltard National School, now closed; St. Anthony’s Secondary School in Kilkee; and graduated from Christian Brothers High School in Kilrush in 1956. Mike emigrated from Ireland to the United States in 1957 and settled in the Fordham area of the Bronx, NY, with his brother Sean and sister Nancy. A few years after arriving in the U.S., Mike met the love of his life, Maureen O’Toole, a Brooklyn girl. They married on April 28, 1962 and lived in the Bronx for eight years where four of their five children were born. Mike became a U.S. citizen in 1963. He was a proud graduate of Fordham University which he attended in the evenings, studying accounting and graduating with a BS degree in June 1970. The family moved to Freehold, NJ in 1970 and became members of St. Rose of Lima Parish. Mike served on the St. Rose Finance Committee and as a Parish Trustee. The family became communicants of St. Robert Bellarmine in 2003. Mike and Maureen remained lifelong residents of Freehold. Mike spent almost all of his working career with two major leading international mining companies in New York City. He was an executive with The Anaconda Company and with Inco Limited (The International Nickel Company of Canada) for nearly 30 years. He retired in 1999 as Comptroller of Inco, US. Mike enjoyed summer vacations in Bolton Landing on Lake George with his wife Maureen and their family. In 2002, they became summer residents of Cape Cod Village in Hague, NY on an especially scenic and beautiful part of Lake George. They enjoyed nearly 20 years of summering on the lake at their Hague home aptly named “Innisfree,” after Irish poet William Butler Yeats’ poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree.” They spent those summer days boating, swimming, relaxing, and spending time with neighbors. Mike served on the Cape Cod Village Club Board of Directors as Treasurer for 12 years. Mike was predeceased by his parents; his brother Sean in 1969 at age 35; his sister Nancy Barton in 1977 at age 42; sisters Mary Crotty and Kathleen Fitzpatrick; brother Paddy Conway; his sisters-in-law Maura Conway and Rita Conway; and brothers-in-law Pat Barton, Chris Crotty, Paddy Fitzpatrick, John O’Toole, and Kevin O’Toole. He is survived by his wife of 59 years and their five children, Sheila and Ben Stanziale, MaryEllen and Jack Picciuto, Steve and Terry Conway, Joan and Bob Gosselin, Michael and Chaney Conway, and 10 grandchildren—Benjamin, Claire, Kelsey, Corey, Sean, Timmy, Colleen, Patrick, Jayden, and Riley. Mike was proud of the many accomplishments of the family he and Maureen raised and also proud of the successes of their 10 grandchildren. Visitation will be held at Higgins Memorial Home, Freehold on Sunday, April 24, 2022, 2-5pm. Funeral mass will be held on Monday, April 25, 2022 at 10:30am at the Cathedral of St. Robert Bellarmine, 61 Georgia Road, Freehold. Interment will follow in St. Rose of Lima Catholic Cemetery, 299 Freehold-Englishtown Road, Freehold. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the Co-Cathedral of St. Robert Bellarmine, 61 Georgia Road, Freehold, NJ 07728 would be appreciated.