Timothy Joseph McAuliffe died at home from complications of presumed COVID-19 May 2 with his beloved wife and family by his side.
Timothy Joseph McAuliffe was the eldest son of immigrants. His parents, John McAuliffe and Honor Keady, emigrated from Brosna, County Kerry, and Moycullen, County Galway, Ireland. Timothy was born in Washington, D.C. in 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression. His father was a carpenter and his mother was a maid. Timothy lived with his family – his sister, Ann, and fraternal twin brothers, John and James – in Georgetown and worked, beginning in childhood, with his first job as a paperboy.
When the new national challenge of World War II began, Timothy sold war bonds and volunteered as a Civilian Air Defense cadet, watching for German airplanes with binoculars from the roof of his house and delivering messages on his bicycle to the neighborhood air raid wardens. In the early 1940s Timothy had the chance to meet his hero, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the meeting was one of the highlights of his childhood memories. Tim also remembered the joy in the city on V-E day, when he made $15 selling special edition newspapers, when the price of the paper was 15 cents. As a child he loved wandering the museums of the Smithsonian and playing baseball on the Ellipse. He attended Holy Trinity School and Gonzaga High School before his family moved to Port Washington, Long Island, where he finished high school at Saint Dominic’s in Oyster Bay.
In high school he managed the baseball team and continued to hold several jobs to help support his family. In his later teenage years he worked at a mechanics’ garage and became adept at fixing and modifying cars. When he was 16 he bought his first car and, since he was the first person in his family to own a car, he was the family chauffeur. He at one point had both a 1938 and 1940 Ford Fordor, using parts from one to modify the other. He also received a ticket for holding an unsanctioned drag race. His brothers noted that he could build a car from the ground up. These skills would later come in handy to help fix the string of mysterious breakdowns of the family cars that only seemed to occur when his children were driving.
Timothy began college at Saint John’s University, but ran out of money for tuition after two years. He then went to work as a teller at Marine Midland Bank to pay for his college degree in business; he put himself through night school at Pace University. He also later attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison for additional classes in banking. As a father, he was determined to give all five of his children the gift of a college education.
At Marine Midland Bank he met the love of his life, Katherine, who worked in the secretarial pool, and the couple was married June 25, 1960. They moved to a small apartment in the Bronx and built their lives around faith and family. Their two oldest daughters, Jean Marie and Mary Ann, were born in New York, and the family continued to grow in Old Bridge where Katherine Mary and Timothy Joseph Jr., were born. The family then settled in Middletown, where their youngest daughter Noreen was born. Timothy commuted on the train for many years from Middletown to Manhattan.
Over a long career at Marine Midland, he worked his way up from teller to a vice president of the bank. As a chief auditor, he traveled the world to work, with trips to Hong Kong, London, Brazil, Tokyo and Paris. While traveling to London he would often stop over at the family farm in Brosna, Ireland, to visit with his extended family. Later in his career, he worked at Gateway Bank of Staten Island. He never forgot the hardships of the Great Depression and worked ceaselessly not only to make sure his family was secure, but to give back to the needy. He was a communicant of St. Mary Mother of God Church in Middletown, where he served as an usher for many years.
Tim was an autodidact and polymath, an avid reader of books and newspapers, humble about his expansive knowledge, but unbeatable at Trivial Pursuit. He was a fan of the Yankees, Benny Goodman and Edward Hopper. In his retirement, the accomplishments of his children and grandchildren were one of his greatest sources of joy. He was delighted by the milestones of his family and always emphasized to his children that “family comes first.”
On his last trip out of the home, one of his daughters brought him in the car as she picked up takeout from his favorite diner. When Timothy saw the stores and restaurants empty, his neighbors wearing masks and gloves, he understood the gravity of the current crisis. Perhaps remembering all the history he had lived through, he said, “This will pass.” But it will be all the more difficult to pass through it without his loving guidance on earth.
Timothy McAuliffe was predeceased by his sister and brother-in-law, Ann and Felix Occhipinti, and his cherished daughter Mary Ann Antoon. He is survived by his twin brothers, James and John McAuliffe; his devoted wife of nearly 60 years, Katherine McAuliffe; his son and daughter-in-law, Timothy and Nicole McAuliffe of Westfield; three daughters and sons-in-law, Jean Marie and Jim Powers of Floral Park, New York, Katherine and Christian Plunkett of Convent Station, and Noreen McAuliffe and Olaf Jensen of Princeton; and his 11 adored grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, please send memorial donations to the Saint Vincent de Paul Society.
Arrangements are under the direction of John F. Pfleger Funeral Home.
