Obituary of Charles (Charlie) J. Gawley

Gawley, Charles (Charlie) J., beloved son, husband, father, grandfather, age 79, passed away after an extended illness on October 15, 2014. Born May 28, 1935 in Bronx, New York to Charles Gawley and Helen (McDermott) Gawley who both had emigrated from Ireland in 1914. Met Dena Smith of Paterson roller-skating at the Paterson Recreation Center on Market Street in January 1954; engaged on Christmas Day 1954 and married on June 11, 1955 at St. Paul's Church, Prospect Park. Charlie had five children, Charles (Beaver Falls, PA), Ann (d. 1959), William (Michelle) (Nashville, TN), Steven (Pam) (Port Washington, NY) and Christopher (Kristin) (Danbury, CT). Charlie had 16 grandchildren (Paige, Charles, Michaela, Anna, Matthew, Kenneth, Maya, Michael, Jane, Ryan, Louise, Emily, Caroline, Christopher, Naomi and Simon) and they, along with his four sons, were the light of his life. Charlie grew up on Haviland Avenue in the Castle Hill neighborhood of the Bronx and attended Holy Family School, P.S. 36 and Machine & Metal Trades High School in Manhattan. He moved to Paterson in 1952. Charlie worked for fifty years in virtually every aspect of the printing ink manufacturing business for companies including Pope & Gray, Sinclair & Valentine, Roberts & Carlson and Kohl & Madden; his career took him to Clifton, Rochester, NY, Newark, Philadelphia, PA and Boston, MA. After retiring as the branch manager of Kohl & Madden's Boston facility in 2001, Charlie moved to Wall, NJ. Charlie was a devoted husband and enjoyed metal detecting, reading, playing cards, and checkers. He also enjoyed painting portraits during his retirement. He was also very skilled in carpentry, painting, drywall and spackling and worked part-time during his retirement at Lowes Home Improvement. He was a third-degree member of the Knights of Columbus and involved with his local parish church in Belmar, NJ. Preceded in death by his parents, daughter and brothers, Bernard Gawley and Edward Gawley. Survived by his wife of 59 years, Dena, children, grandchildren and sister Mary Brady (Bill) (Gainesville, GA) and brothers-in-law, Robert Smith, Roger Smith and James Smith (all retired Paterson Police Department officers). There will be an open visitation at the Festa Memorial Funeral Home, 111 Union Blvd., Totowa, from 5 PM to 9 PM on Friday, October 17th. Rosary will be prayed at 7:45 PM followed by a eulogy at 8:00 PM. All are also welcome to attend the funeral starting from Festa on Saturday, October 18th at 8:45 AM. A Mass of Christian burial will be held at Sacred Heart R.C. Church, 145 Randolph Ave, Clifton on Saturday, October 18th at 9:30 AM. Entombment following at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery Mausoleum, Totowa. In lieu of flowers donations may be sent to City of Hope, a California nonprofit corporation, 1500 E. Duarte Road, Duarte, CA 91010 (City of Hope Tax ID 95-3435919), in honor of Charles Gawley.