Obituary of Carolyn S. Mooney

Her name was CAROLYN; not Caroline or Carol, CAROLYN!! It annoyed her when she was misidentified. I never made that mistake. I married her 50 years ago and you can safely say I married up! Let me tell you about my wife: Carolyn S. Mooney was born on April 3, 1948 to Henry and Zelma Dietrich. She was the second of four children. Her siblings include her older sister Rosemary, Bill and the late brother Jim. The family lived at 799 McKinley Parkway for all of their formative years. Carolyn attended St. Thomas Aquinas elementary school and then Mt. Mercy Academy from which she graduated in 1966. Childhood activities included visits to the nearby South Buffalo YMCA, Girl Scout involvement and piano lessons from her grandmother which she enjoyed taking for ten years. Carolyn's relatives were her cousins; the Barretts from Melroy Street in Lackawanna and the Roche's from Marilla Street in South Buffalo. Carolyn's mom was from Oklahoma originally and there were cousins there and in New Mexico. There were occasional summertime trips out west in pre-US interstate days which must have been a real treat for parents with four kids in the back seat. After high school Carolyn attended Buffalo State College and majored in Education. She received her Bachelor's degree in 1970 and her Masters degree in 1973. Her teaching career started in 1970 at the Armor Elementary School and she taught third graders for thirty three years retiring in 2003. But she didn't completely retire; in 1972 Carolyn joined the Hamburg-Fredonia Student Intern program to train student teachers. She continued in this role through her teaching years and eventually assumed the coordinator role for the program becoming an adjunct professor at Fredonia. She continued in that role after retirement until 2012 and was then honored by the University for her forty years of mentoring future teachers. But Carolyn was not only a teacher; she was a wife, a mother and a grandmother and she found great joy in all of these roles. She married me, Joe Mooney, on August 3, 1973 and we just celebrated our 50th anniversary with a trip to Italy and Paris. We have two children...Jeff and Julie and four grandchildren - Cameron Mooney, Anna, Patrick and Nina Senulis. If Carolyn exceeded at anything it was in these roles as wife, mother, grandmother. Both Jeff and Julie attended Charlotte Avenue School and despite her busy schedule she involved herself in every school play designing and making costumes for so many of the roles the kids played. And for many of the other kids too. A very important part of Carolyn's life since the early 1990's was ZONTA, a women's club which embraces causes for the betterment of womens' lives. The ZONTA Club of Hamburg-Orchard Park awards scholarships to deserving Southtown high school young ladies and also seeks to help women looking to return to a work status by attending local colleges. Numerous other programs to benefit women's lives are also embraced and supported. Carolyn Mooney was the best wife a man could have and my 50 years with her was my greatest joy. Her death, so sudden and unexpected, leaves a terrible void in all of our lives. I'm shedding tears as I write this. In her honor please find a worthy cause and support; pay a compliment to someone who has helped you; kiss your children and grandchildren and tell them you love them! Do as Carolyn did! MOONEY, Carolyn (Dietrich), passed away on November 11, 2023 after a brief fight with Cancer, beloved wife of Joseph P. Mooney, dear mother of Jeffrey Mooney and Julianne (Jeffrey) Senulis, loving grandmother of Cameron Mooney, Anna, Patrick and Nina Senulis, sister of Rosemary (Mark) Dietrich Reinen, William Dietrich and the late James Dietrich. Friends and family may call on Tuesday from 4-8:00pm at the JAMES W. CANNAN FUNERAL HOME, INC., 3155 Orchard Park Road in Orchard Park. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated on Wednesday at 10:00am at St. Peter and Paul Church in Hamburg (please assemble at Church). In lieu of flowers donations may be sent to Mount Mercy Academy or the Zonta Club Scholarship Fund. Carolyn was a member and Past President of the Zonta Club of Hamburg – Orchard Park and was a retiree of the Hamburg Schools after 33 years of teaching. Please visit the online register book and additional obituary for Mrs. Mooney at www.CANNANFH.com