Maureen Ellen Cronin
Obituary
Maureen Ellen Cronin, of North Truro, Massachusetts, died peacefully at home on May 7, 2024, after a long and gracious fight with Parkinson’s. She was born in Roxbury, MA. on August 18,1938. She was the daughter of Mark Joseph Patrick Cronin, d.1989, and Marguerite Agnes Reardon Cronin, d.1996. Her family is extremely grateful for the loving care of her husband, her daughters, friend and caregiver Beau Babineau, the outer-Cape VNA and hospice caregivers, and family and friends who stayed in touch. Maureen is survived by her loving husband of 27 years, Peter E. Graham, her sister Jeanne Dorothy Cronin of Cambridge, MA, and her aunt, Eleanor Dempsey Reardon, presently of NY, NY. She was preceded in death by her sister Anne Marguerite Cronin, d. 2017. She is survived by her five daughters from her marriage to Edward Richard Masters: Rebecca Masters Pryor, Kara Masters Siekman, Montana Lee Masters (Lance Lee), Serena Cronin Masters Fossi (Rob Fossi), Renata Quinlan Masters (Chip Hinnenberg); Peter’s children Colby and Sibyl Graham. Fifteen grandchildren: Brian Roos, Amanda and Jason Pryor; Ian, Seana and Caroline Masters Siekman; Gabriel and Vincent Lee; Alexander, Nicole, Sonia and Eamon Fossi; Sebastian Masters; Blair and Eliana Hinnenberg; and four+ great-grandchildren: Chloe, Caiden and Carter Roos; Lyra Gafford and one expected in October. Maureen had many loving aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews, and friends who she corresponded with all over the world - literally!
Maureen valued education and learning for herself and those around her and had lifelong friends from Emmanuel College in Boston where she started her post-secondary education in 1955. She married into the Navy and moved her family from Newport, Rhode Island to Athens, Georgia and then to Naples, Italy from 1964-1969. With five daughters in tow, the family returned to Arlington, VA where she enrolled at Trinity College in Washington DC, and graduate in 1973, the first in her family to graduate from college.
Moving to Dayton, Ohio, in 1973, she completed her Masters degree at The University of Dayton (UD) and worked on her PhD in English Literature and Linguistics at the University of Cincinnati. Initially starting on the grounds’ crew to pay for her tuition, she then worked at the University of Dayton for 22 years. Upon completion of her degrees, she worked in the English department and coordinated the UD Arts Series. She was a life-long supporter of all the arts ~ writing, language, visual art, dance, theatre and music. She was fluent in Italian and practiced with friends at Italian tables. Her favorite summer school class was teaching international students English as a Second Language. Her international students and friends from all over the world filled the long dining room table every Thanksgiving.
All along the way, Maureen reached out to perform community service work and to invite her daughters to join, including recycling center work in DC, housing project and low- income support work in Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio and in retirement on the outer Cape. She relished the inclusion of family (especially, daughters, nieces and nephews), students and new and old friends in her life. She taught her daughters to set an extra place at the dining table, just in case another visitor stopped by. There were untold numbers of pets: cats upon cats, (of course!), a blind poodle, guinea pigs, schools of fishes, and a pair of mice.
After meeting in 1993 and marrying Peter Graham in 1996, they moved to Rockford, IL., where she worked briefly at Boyd College and the Rock River Times selling advertising. Returning to Ohio, they lived in Cincinnati, Ohio and Maureen taught at Northern Kentucky University (NKU).
Upon retirement, Maureen and Peter designed and built a house in North Truro, MA. on Cape Cod. Maureen filled her retirement life with her Memoirs Writing group, reading; volunteering with the local affordable housing advocacy, the local food pantry, and the local summer arts’ venue; bird watching, gardening, traveling (notably to Africa with Peter), and welcoming family and friends to visit and to join in her ventures. They hosted grandchildren & great grandchildren for summer jobs on the Cape. In 2023, she became a published author with the completion of her book of memoirs, City Mouse Roxbury Tiger.