Obituary for Nancy P Mahoney (Rhynd)
It is with deep sorrow that the family of Nancy Pearl (Rhynd) Mahoney announces her passing, at 90 years young, on June 30, 2023. She is survived by her six children: Lawrence J. Mahoney, Jr. and his wife, Sally, of Bangor, ME, T. Michael and C. Beth Mahoney (twins) of Rollinsford, NH, Victor T. Mahoney of Rollinsford, NH and NY, NY, and Kathleen L. Mahoney of Rollinsford, NH, and her twin brother, Timothy F. Mahoney of Norwalk, CT. She is also survived by two grandsons: Michael L. Mahoney of NY, NY and his partner, Felipe Tristan, and Andrew W. Mahoney, currently serving overseas with the Army National Guard, and his fiancée, Amy Kranz.
Mom was our inspiration, our role model, our captain, our teacher – she was the center, the rock, of our family up until the very end. She was known for her big smile, that smooth, rich voice, a tireless sense of humor and affinity for practical jokes, and her strength and composure under pressure – but she also had something else, a grace, an elegance, an aura about her. Bing Crosby noticed her first, singling her out from a large crowd of spectators at the Newton (MA) Pro-Am Golf Tournament in 1947 -- this young teenage girl, with long braids, freckles, and a chipped front tooth (from an incident with her sister… and a rock) – to receive his just opened Coca Cola, and a photo. She was 14. Even at that young age, her smile could light the world. Fifty years later, President Bill Clinton would pull her out of a crowd at a Dover rally for a photo which would appear on the front page of Foster’s Daily Democrat, in February, 1999.
Nancy was born in Needham, Massachusetts, the youngest of five children, to Nettie Bell (Marshall) Rhynd and John A. Rhynd, the assistant fire chief of Needham. She grew up loving the outdoors, and recalled fondly her summers spent on her grandparents’ farm in Nova Scotia. She was a fearless tomboy. She could outrun all the boys in Needham (including her future husband, a high school football star), outswim them, and climb higher than anybody in the trees. In junior high, she swung upside down from rings suspended from the auditorium ceiling, over an assembly of amazed schoolmates. Soon after graduating from high school, a friend encouraged her to enter the Miss Needham pageant. She was reluctant. A few weeks later, wearing a dress sewn by her sister, she was crowned Miss Needham, 1951.
Just starting out, Nancy was offered jobs in modeling, as a flight attendant, and with the C.I.A., before settling on something closer to home – working as a telephone operator for the New England Telephone Company. She married that high school football star, moved to California where her husband was stationed in the U.S. Air Force, and had her first child. Over the next 30 years, she focused full-time on raising her family of six kids (two sets of twins) – moving frequently to support her husband’s active-duty military career. It was customary for her husband to depart first to find housing at their future location, leaving Nancy to pack up all their belongings, and to follow with six kids in tow (on one such trip to England, she travelled with her six kids, who were all below the age of 10). Nancy returned to work as a telephone operator after launching her youngest children into college, and would retire from Verizon’s Dover office with over 20 years of service, and multiple perfect attendance awards. To anybody who made a collect call between 1981 and 2001, you would remember her distinctive smooth voice.
Raising kids was one of Mom’s many super powers. After having six kids, she always said she would have liked six more. She loved the chaos and energy of a house full of kids – and assorted pets. Another super power was her financial wizardry. In a household where the monthly paycheck was fully spent by the end of week 3, she always managed to find the money for music lessons – that private school summer program – those braces – all the college tuitions – that new winter coat.
Nancy was a 50-year resident of Rollinsford, NH, where she was a member of the St. Mary’s Catholic Church parish, and the St. Anne’s Guild. Over the past twenty years, Nancy spent most of her time at her beloved home on the ocean in Harpswell, Maine.
She loved all her neighbors and their children, and all the neighborhood dogs – and all creatures great and small. She led by example – to treat all people and animals with kindness and love. She instilled in all of us a deep empathy and respect for all living things, a love of education and the benefits of hard work. We can only hope to measure up.
Nancy’s family want to thank Dr. Henry Sonneborn and Dr. Su Metcalfe, and the nurses and staff at the Seacoast Cancer Center for successfully treating her cancer ten years ago. In addition, we want to thank Dr. Rosmy Jimmy and the nurses and staff of the 4th floor Garrison Wing at Wentworth Douglass Hospital for the kind and compassionate care they provided to Mom (and her family) during her final days.
In lieu of flowers, please feel free to make a donation to your favorite cancer charity, or charities that benefit children or animals (one of hers was the Pope Memorial Cocheco Valley Humane Society).
A mass will be held at 10:30 am on Tuesday, July 18 at St. Mary’s Church in Rollinsford, NH – followed by a brief prayer service at the New Town Cemetery in Rollinsford. A reception will follow in South Berwick, Maine, at Dufour’s Stage House Inn at 224 Main Street, from 12 noon to 3:00 pm.
She was an amazing Mom, and an extraordinary woman. We cannot thank God enough for the Mother he gave us.
Mom was our inspiration, our role model, our captain, our teacher – she was the center, the rock, of our family up until the very end. She was known for her big smile, that smooth, rich voice, a tireless sense of humor and affinity for practical jokes, and her strength and composure under pressure – but she also had something else, a grace, an elegance, an aura about her. Bing Crosby noticed her first, singling her out from a large crowd of spectators at the Newton (MA) Pro-Am Golf Tournament in 1947 -- this young teenage girl, with long braids, freckles, and a chipped front tooth (from an incident with her sister… and a rock) – to receive his just opened Coca Cola, and a photo. She was 14. Even at that young age, her smile could light the world. Fifty years later, President Bill Clinton would pull her out of a crowd at a Dover rally for a photo which would appear on the front page of Foster’s Daily Democrat, in February, 1999.
Nancy was born in Needham, Massachusetts, the youngest of five children, to Nettie Bell (Marshall) Rhynd and John A. Rhynd, the assistant fire chief of Needham. She grew up loving the outdoors, and recalled fondly her summers spent on her grandparents’ farm in Nova Scotia. She was a fearless tomboy. She could outrun all the boys in Needham (including her future husband, a high school football star), outswim them, and climb higher than anybody in the trees. In junior high, she swung upside down from rings suspended from the auditorium ceiling, over an assembly of amazed schoolmates. Soon after graduating from high school, a friend encouraged her to enter the Miss Needham pageant. She was reluctant. A few weeks later, wearing a dress sewn by her sister, she was crowned Miss Needham, 1951.
Just starting out, Nancy was offered jobs in modeling, as a flight attendant, and with the C.I.A., before settling on something closer to home – working as a telephone operator for the New England Telephone Company. She married that high school football star, moved to California where her husband was stationed in the U.S. Air Force, and had her first child. Over the next 30 years, she focused full-time on raising her family of six kids (two sets of twins) – moving frequently to support her husband’s active-duty military career. It was customary for her husband to depart first to find housing at their future location, leaving Nancy to pack up all their belongings, and to follow with six kids in tow (on one such trip to England, she travelled with her six kids, who were all below the age of 10). Nancy returned to work as a telephone operator after launching her youngest children into college, and would retire from Verizon’s Dover office with over 20 years of service, and multiple perfect attendance awards. To anybody who made a collect call between 1981 and 2001, you would remember her distinctive smooth voice.
Raising kids was one of Mom’s many super powers. After having six kids, she always said she would have liked six more. She loved the chaos and energy of a house full of kids – and assorted pets. Another super power was her financial wizardry. In a household where the monthly paycheck was fully spent by the end of week 3, she always managed to find the money for music lessons – that private school summer program – those braces – all the college tuitions – that new winter coat.
Nancy was a 50-year resident of Rollinsford, NH, where she was a member of the St. Mary’s Catholic Church parish, and the St. Anne’s Guild. Over the past twenty years, Nancy spent most of her time at her beloved home on the ocean in Harpswell, Maine.
She loved all her neighbors and their children, and all the neighborhood dogs – and all creatures great and small. She led by example – to treat all people and animals with kindness and love. She instilled in all of us a deep empathy and respect for all living things, a love of education and the benefits of hard work. We can only hope to measure up.
Nancy’s family want to thank Dr. Henry Sonneborn and Dr. Su Metcalfe, and the nurses and staff at the Seacoast Cancer Center for successfully treating her cancer ten years ago. In addition, we want to thank Dr. Rosmy Jimmy and the nurses and staff of the 4th floor Garrison Wing at Wentworth Douglass Hospital for the kind and compassionate care they provided to Mom (and her family) during her final days.
In lieu of flowers, please feel free to make a donation to your favorite cancer charity, or charities that benefit children or animals (one of hers was the Pope Memorial Cocheco Valley Humane Society).
A mass will be held at 10:30 am on Tuesday, July 18 at St. Mary’s Church in Rollinsford, NH – followed by a brief prayer service at the New Town Cemetery in Rollinsford. A reception will follow in South Berwick, Maine, at Dufour’s Stage House Inn at 224 Main Street, from 12 noon to 3:00 pm.
She was an amazing Mom, and an extraordinary woman. We cannot thank God enough for the Mother he gave us.