Obituary of NATALIE McDERMOTT

On July 18, 2009, Natalie Elizabeth Roberts McDermott died peacefully, among family, at her home in the Lake Hiawatha section of Parsippany-Troy Hills following a long battle with Alzheimer's and emphysema. Natalie shared her home with her cousin Robert May, and devoted caregivers Mary Lynne McDermott and Jerry Giambrone. Natalie was born in Peckville, PA on September 29, 1928 to Cecil Kennedy Roberts ("Cy") of Scots-Irish, Dutch and English Pilgrim stock, and Mary Grace Wilkins, of Welsh descent. Natalie attended Peckville's No. 1 School with best friends Marilyn Williams and Lois Jean Banks. She often marched as a junior-majorette in town parades and at football games. Natalie and her extended family spent summers on her Grandpa Abrahm Josiah Kennedy's farm at Handsome Lake in Fleetville, PA. In 1942, Natalie and her family moved to Lake Hiawatha, NJ so her father could work in the war plant at Curtiss-Wright in Fairfield. During World War II, Natalie attended Boonton High School while her only sibling, James Kennedy Roberts, enlisted in the Navy. Active in high school as a cheerleader and drama participant, Natalie graduated Boonton High School in 1946. Two months later, Natalie suffered her first great loss when she could not save her brother Jimmy from drowning at Boonton's Deep Hole - a tragic accident that occurred only four months after Jimmy's return from the war. After high school, Natalie worked at several jobs in New York and New Jersey. She was a "cigarette girl" at the Meadowbrook, the "big band" club in Cedar Grove. While working in a jewelry store in Caldwell, Natalie met Patrick Philip McDermott ("Phil") in the McDermott Diner. Phil, a talented tenor, sang his way into Natalie's heart. They were married on November 2, 1950, in the rectory of St. Aloysius R.C. Church in Caldwell. Following a honeymoon cruise to Bermuda and the Bahamas, Phil and Natalie set up home in Lake Hiawatha. Two months later, however, they moved to Montclair so that Natalie could become the temporary mother of Kathy and Patty McDermott, who had lost their mom to lumbar polio. Natalie dearly loved her very young nieces - her "first children." Natalie and Phil began their own family in 1951 and eventually moved back to Lake Hiawatha, living on Iroquois Avenue across from Natalie's parents. Natalie's husband Phil and her father Cy, a master carpenter, worked together to build a house for the growing family on farm property bought from the Walkers near the Knoll Country Club. In 1956, and four children later, Natalie and Phil moved in to their new home on North Beverwyck Road. The house was christened with the sign "It's a Boy!" to celebrate the birth of their first son. The McDermott family continued to grow and by 1964, Natalie had given birth to 7 girls and 2 boys, including a set of twin girls. Phil and Natalie lovingly raised and educated their children, through high school, college, nursing school, and even law school, until Phil's sudden death on December 23, 1978- the second great loss in Natalie's life. Natalie's life was centered on her children and anyone in the community who needed love and care. Her older children attended elementary school at St. Peter the Apostle parish where Natalie was active in the PTA, Rosary Society, numerous bake sales, bingo and later in mid-life, in the RCIA program for converts. Natalie had converted to Catholicism in 1954 after the prayers and care of the nuns at St. Vincent Hospital helped to save the life of her extremely premature baby, Tracey. Natalie's younger children attended Parsippany public schools. Once again, Natalie supported her children's activities and served as a class mother for many years. Natalie was a "soccer mom" back in the 1960's and 1970's, attending her children's football games, recitals, concerts, sports, and plays. She used to say that one of her jobs was being a full-time taxi-service for her gang. Natalie and her children were active members of the Lake Hiawatha Country Club, where she attended numerous swim meets and scored countless diving competitions. She made many wonderful friends at "the pool" that served as her "vacation" each summer. Natalie was able to pass on to her children her own love of swimming and diving. Natalie supported all of her children's activities and aspirations, including Kathy and Amy's dreams of acting, Eileen and Tracey's goal of becoming nurses, and Lynne's passion for teaching and law. She supported her children in time of stress, indecision, and difficulty. Natalie was a child at heart sometimes. She got a thrill out of driving her son Phil's souped-up Gremlin down Beverwyck Road. She was an excellent seamstress, making school uniforms, costumes, dresses, and even matching Easter outfits for herself and all of her daughters. She made the best Halloween costumes in the world for her children and she is remembered for being the Bicentennial Bunny or, in her senior years, a cow - utters and all. Natalie's costumes won first prize at the Lake Hiawatha Country Club when she dressed toddlers Maureen and Kathy as tomatoes and infant Jimmy as a carrot and paraded them in a wagon driven by farmer Philip and bearing the sign, "Old McDermott's Farm." Natalie had a wicked sense of humor that she maintained even in her later years. Her smile got her through so much. Natalie had many interests: Music, reading, the theater, bridge club, and even tap dancing. Before her marriage, she regularly went into New York City to see shows with her mother. She continued that practice with her children. She took acting classes, participated in local productions, and was a seamstress for the Chatham Theater. In her 50's, she returned briefly to her childhood love of tap dancing - this time, though, in metallic green shoes and practicing on the kitchen floor. Natalie was a voracious reader. After getting her children off to school, she could be found devouring a book, especially her annual reading of "Gone with the Wind," "The Fountainhead," and "The Good Earth." But most of all, she loved to listen to her husband play the piano and sing to her. He could still charm her with his voice. In her elder years, Natalie enjoyed the voices of her children, especially Kathy, Jimmy, and Jane. As her children grew older, Natalie returned to work, first at the Knoll Country Club and later in the Office of the Township Clerk of Parsippany-Troy Hills. By serving her town for fourteen years, Natalie grew to know more and more of the citizens of the community and enjoyed helping them. She would travel almost anywhere and end up meeting someone from Parsippany who knew her. Natalie remained devoted to her parents in their elder years. With the help of her children, she was able to care of her father Cy, who died in 1985 at the age of 82 from emphysema, and her mother Grace, who died in 1986 at the age of 80 of complications from Alzheimer's. Natalie's loves later in life were her grandchildren. She would never miss her summer vacation with the whole family up in Blue Mountain, PA, where she could have private time not only with the Lord, but also with the grandkids. All of her grandchildren - Eileen's Tony, Tracey's Joey, Phil's Amanda, Kathy's Colleen, Amy's Dylan and Olivia, and Jane's six children, Josiah, Becky, Natalie, Hannah, Noah, and Leneah, bought love and joy into her life, even in her failing years. They always saw her as just "Grandma" and loved her so. Natalie is survived by her 9 children: Mary Lynne McDermott, Eileen Jeanne Citro, Anne Therese (Tracey) Belcastro, Philip Tierney McDermott, Maureen Grace McDermott, Kathleen Marie Eastman, James Kennedy McDermott, and twins, Elizabeth Jane Contarino and Amy Beth Carter. Also surviving Natalie are her daughter-in-law, Betsy McDermott, and sons-in-law, Douglas Belcastro, Len Contarino, Tom Carter, and Jerry Giambrone. Natalie has 13 grandchildren: Anthony Merle Citro, Colleen Joy Eastman, Amanda Grace McDermott, Josiah Abrahm McDermott Contarino, Joseph Barnabas Belcastro, Rebekah Lynne Contarino, Natalie Elizabeth Contarino, Hannah Grace Contarino, Noah Leonard Contarino, Dylan McDermott Carter, Olivia Jane Carter, Leneah Jane Contarino and a special granddaughter, Heather Anne McDermott, whose birthday Natalie never forgot. Natalie lived long enough to support in prayer the marriage of her granddaughter Colleen to Masa in 2008 and the marriage of her grandson Josiah to Chloe on July 4, 2009. Natalie was the beloved aunt of many McDermott nieces and nephews, including Martin and Dot McDermott's children, Stephen, Ellen, Brian, Barbara, Susan, Barry and Michael; Gene and Kathryn (McDermott) Collerd's children, Gene and Joseph; John and Gert McDermott's children, Clint, Brian, Kathy, Patty, John, Nancy, Timothy, and Geoffrey (deceased), and James McDermott's only son, Jimmy who died in childhood. Natalie was one of the few remaining direct descendants of the original Revolutionary War veteran Stephen Roberts who, in the late 1700's, migrated from Middletown, CT to Muhlenberg, PA (near Wilkes-Barre). The original Samuel Roberts came to America in 1632 from Constantine, Cornwall, England, arriving at Salem, MA, but settling in CT. Around 1900, Natalie's grandfather, Silas Roberts, who served in the Civil War, moved his three sons, from the old Muhlenberg homestead to the new developing Peckville, PA. The three sons set up businesses, including Roberts Lumber Company, which was run by Natalie's grandfather, Elmer, and her father, Cy. During the depression, Elmer and Cy built most of the small homes around Handsome Lake in Fleetville, PA, then owned by Natalie's grandmother, Ola Kennedy Roberts. Later, after moving to Lake Hiawatha, Cy used his superior carpentry skills to build many homes in the Parsippany area. Natalie was very proud of her heritage and enjoyed keeping records of her different family lines to pass on to her children. Close surviving Roberts relatives are first cousins Robert L. May, Jr., Gail Roberts Knapik, Carol Roberts Cavataio, Lawrence Van Metre and Richard Van Metre. At different times in her life, Natalie became a substitute mother and friend to many, including Elizabeth Del Grosso Sherer, Dawn Miller (with her daughters Jillian and Sienna), and sweet Marjorie. She opened up her heart and her home to those in their times of need. Natalie loved all sorts of animals and nurtured them too. Natalie and her family remember with deep appreciation the many nurses, LPNs, and home health aides from Vitas and Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey, who so lovingly helped Lynne and Jerry care for Natalie, including nurse Pat, current aide Mercedes, and aides Doreen and Marlene. Natalie always remembered Cenobia Bohorquez who lived part-time with Natalie and Aunt Laura May Roberts in 1996. Natalie was grateful for three years that she and Aunt Laura lived in Florham Park with Jerry and Lynne and close friends, Anita Hoffman and Therie Lai, who were always patient, respectful and loving. Natalie enjoyed the fellowship of the staff and members of Friendship Alzheimer's Day Care Center, then in Florham Park, which she attended for over 5 years. Natalie thrived with all the love and attention they gave her. Natalie especially enjoyed all of the parties at Friendship House also attended by family or caregivers. Particularly memorable is the Halloween party at which Natalie wore a Patriot's hat and Aunt Laura wore a Monica Lewinsky beret. Lynne and Jerry showed up later wearing masks of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Everyone laughed so much. Natalie had some great times, even with dementia. Natalie was a gift to so many. We will miss her dearly. Our memories and prayers will carry us through with the help of God the Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, whom Natalie loved so.