Obituary of Josephine Rita Ahearn

Josephine Rita Ahearn (née Lucca)

July 17, 1931-August 31, 2023

Aged 92

Josephine Rita Ahearn (née Lucca) of Edgewater Park, NJ passed away on Thursday, August 31, 2023, at the age of 92, with her children at her side at Virtua Hospital in Mt. Holly, NJ. She was born July 17, 1931, and grew up on a chicken farm in Hammonton, NJ, the Blueberry Capital of the World, with her loving parents, Salvatore (Bill) and Katherine Lucca (née Jacobs), and sister, Grayce (Pitera). She spent many a summer picking fruits with friends and fondly recalled her days at Hammonton High School (HHS). Josephine often sang HHS fight songs to her children.

Josephine attended Glassboro State Teachers College (currently Rowan University), where she received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education. While she was a first-year sixth-grade English teacher at the Robert Stacy School in Burlington, NJ, she met her future husband, Joseph Anthony Ahearn. They had five children: Mary Kay (John Hansen), Michael (Jeanne), Patrick (Michaela), Colleen (Todd Jordan) and Brendan (Doug Brown). She wholeheartedly supported her children’s extracurricular endeavors and was a regular fixture at their sporting events, scouting meetings, plays, concerts and recitals. She insisted that her children play musical instruments and that her children further their education, which are opportunities her children are eternally grateful for. Josephine herself played piano and always played “Long, Long Ago” and “Beautiful Dreamer” when she sat at the piano. During the summers, she and the children were regular fixtures at the then-Trident Swim Club at the end of Green Street in Edgewater Park, where she met friends, and the children played for hours in the pool with their friends.

She had a love of all creative activities, which she passed on to her children. In addition to playing piano earlier in her life, she sewed and quilted in her later years and belonged to 3 quilting guilds: Berry Basket Quilters, Cinnaminson Quilters and Cattywampus Group. She also was a patron of creative activities by being a member of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and a subscriber to the Riverfront Theater in Bristol, PA.

Additionally, she performed service to the community as a past co-president of the Burlington Counter chapter of the American Association of University Woman (AAUW), a member of the AAUW reading group, and a charter member and past president of the Burlington County Mothers of Twins Club.

She had a deep faith and served on the Altar and Rosary Society of the Jesus, the Good Shepherd Church (Beverly, NJ) and volunteered at St. Francis (Kensington, PA) and the St. Vincent de Paul Society Willingboro (NJ) Conference.

Josephine is pre-deceased by her parents, sister, and husband. She is survived by her five children and spouses mentioned above, three grandchildren (Michael Ahearn, Bryan Ahearn and Frederic Jordan), eight nieces and nephews and their children.

Viewing/Visiting Hours: Friday, September 8, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Goes-Scolieri Funeral Home, 212 Veterans Parkway, Willingboro NJ (previously 212 Levitt Parkway). (609) 871-1000.

Funeral Mass: Friday, September 8, 2023, from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Jesus, the Good Shepherd Church, 805 Warren Street, Beverly, NJ. (856) 461-0100.

Burial: Immediately following funeral mass at Laurel Hill Cemetery, Jacksonville Road, Burlington,