Maureen Ann O’Mara, a resident of Claverack NY, passed away on September 26, 2022, at Albany Medical Center peacefully with family by her side. The daughter of Edward J. O’Mara and Margaret Dougherty O’Mara, Maureen was born on July 21, 1948 in Newburgh NY. She was 74 years old.
Maureen was a graduate of Wallkill High School class of 66. After high school Maureen chose a career in nursing at a time when so many changes were occurring in nursing and the healthcare industry. She graduated in 1969 from Middletown NY State Hospitals Diploma Program. This program was one of the first to send nursing students to local community colleges where they were awarded credits for science courses they took. This was a very innovative approach and changed the way nursing students were taught.
Maureen would spend the next 35 years working in the healthcare industry in jobs that would use her talents and skills as a registered nurse and more importantly a people manager. Maureen’s philosophy for management was simple. Surround yourself with good people, empower them to do their Jobs and recognize their efforts when they go above and beyond what was asked of them. It’s a philosophy that earned her the love and respect of employees and peers alike. Those 35 years would take her to hospitals like Peter Brent Brigham Hospital in Boston which was a major teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School. Today it is part of Brigham and Women's Hospital. Ohio’s Kent State University Student Clinic and Baltimore's University of Maryland Shock/Trauma Center. At that time it was the biggest Trauma Center in the United States. Maureen worked in many other hospitals along the way.
In 1982 Maureen was hired by the IBM Corporation in New York. Maureen’s career at IBM saw her accept management positions at IBM Poughkeepsie NY where she was the site Manager for Occupational Health Services. Maureen was promoted to Northeast Regional Manager responsible for OHS at IBM locations in East Fishkill, Poughkeepsie, Endicott NY and Burlington VT. Maureen ended her career at IBM in 2004 retiring from a Corporate Staff assignment where she worked on many of IBM’s national Occupational Health Services and Wellness Programs.
A strong supporter of education Maureen held 2 Masters degrees. Although she had many achievements and successes, Maureen’s greatest achievement was that of being the most incredible mother. She loved family and was devoted, loving, supportive and fair. Maureen was a strong, independent woman who raised two children with morals and values that mirrored hers. She was so proud of her son Collin O’Mara-Green a graduate of St Michael’s College in Vermont and her daughter Bridget O’Mara-Green a graduate of Manhattan College in NYC. Maureen loved to travel and visited the Netherlands and Austria with a number of trips to her beloved Ireland. Her last trip in 2022 was to visit family in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Northern California. Maureen loved her Yoga buddies and waterfront aerobics exercise group. Her Apple Pies and Rustic Tarts at gatherings for family and friends were legendary.
Maureen loved deeply, forgave quickly and throughout her life looked for the best in people. She was a believer in giving back to the communities where she lived and helping those who may have been less fortunate then herself. Maureen was a member of the Knit Club of the Hudson Valley. A non profit organization, the knit club supported the Taconic Hills Backpack program, Community Christmas Baskets, Roe Jan Food Pantry and Community Action/Battered Women to name a few. In addition to those organizations, Maureen supported ReEntry Columbia and the Federal Governments (WIC) program which was a special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children. Maureen was very active with the Claverack Democratic Party, volunteering in whatever way was needed and beneficial. In passing as in life, Maureen continued to give to others as an organ donor giving the gift of sight and in support of scientific research. A life well lived, a life well loved and that light of goodness in the world has dimmed with her passing.
Maureen is survived by her husband Richard Bazelow, her children Collin O’Mara-Green and Bridget O’Mara-Green, her sister Eileen O’Mara-Garcia and husband Ralph O’Mara-Garcia. Also cousins Maura and Bill Rose, Kevin and Nancy Cowherd, Stephen Cowherd and Anne Staudt. A celebration of her life party will be held at Our Lady of Hope Church community hall at 8074 state route 22 in Copake NY on Saturday Oct 15 from Noon to 3:00PM. Donations can be made to the charities and organizations mentioned herein and also The American Heart Association. For on-line condolences, visit wenkfuneralhome,com.