Shelter Island Reporter obituary: Geraldine F. Goodleaf

Geraldine F. Goodleaf (nee Quirke) born in Elmira, N.Y. a resident of Dumont, N.J. for 67 years and a summer resident of Shelter Island, for 80 years, passed away peacefully on March 12, 2022.

Geraldine enjoyed a successful accounting career that spanned 30 years, beginning at Andrea Lawrence Boutique and concluding after 15 years at Englewood Hospital in New Jersey.

Geraldine was the daughter of John and Virginia Quirke, who purchased a home in the Heights in the 1940s. She and her siblings grew up summering on the Island and hanging out at the Beach Club and Louis’ Beach. As they married and had children of their own, they introduced their young families to the peaceful, beautiful summers on the Island and the next generation still continues that tradition in the Quirke family home in the Heights.

Geraldine was pre-deceased by her sisters, Virginia Dubatowka and MaryRose Conklyn. She is survived by her siblings, Elizabeth DeMarco, John S. Quirke (Mary Ann), Kevin P. Quirke (Cathe); her children, George H. Goodleaf, Kathleen Cecala (the late Joseph), Virginia Goodleaf, Michael J. Goodleaf, Geraldine Lagala, Kevin P. Goodleaf, Loretta Boyd, Mary E. Phillips, Marguerite Ridings (Keith), Judith Card (Jay); 19 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; and many loving nieces and nephews.

Visitation was scheduled for Wednesday, March 16, 3 to 7 p.m. at the Beaugard-McKnight Funeral Home, 869 Kinderkamack Rd., River Edge, NJ. A Funeral Mass was planned for Thursday, March 17, 9:30 a.m. at St. Mary’s R.C. Church, Dumont, N.J.

A private interment with close family and friends will follow at Our Lady of the Isle Cemetery, Shelter Island. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Geraldine’s memory to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, stjude.org; the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, alzfdn.org; or to Our Lady of the Isle Roman Catholic Church, PO Box 3027, Shelter Island Heights, N.Y. 11965.