Obituary of Elizabeth Ann McGovern

As most of you know, yesterday, April 20,2020, my brother and I lost our mom, Elizabeth “Betty” McGovern.  For all of you that know our family, you know how close we are and how Betty means the world to us. 

Although she suffered from dementia these last few years, she was Covid -19 positive. This virus ravished her body so quickly. It’s so heartbreaking that we were not able to be there for her in her final hours.  Never in a million years did we think that we would not be able to comfort each other or hold her hand while she took her last breath. We have nothing but incredible gratitude for the nurses and caretakers that sat with her and made her as comfortable as possible. 

To help with the grieving - I wanted to take the opportunity to tell you a little bit about “Betz”.

Born and raised in Staten Island, NY, my mom came from a boisterous family of 10 siblings, the Walker family. At the tender age of 16, she met the man of her dreams, my dad, Jim McGovern.  They married young and had 2 children, James (Jamie) McGovern and myself. They had a fairytale marriage and enjoyed spending time with family and friends. My dad was a driver/trainer of harness horses so most of our childhood was spent at the racetrack. And what a childhood it was full of laughter, and love. 

When my dad passed in 1982 at age 49, my mom was left with two children, a horse farm to maintain and a loneliness and void that no one could fill. It wasn’t until later in my life, that I appreciated her strength and courage throughout my dad’s passing. She taught us how to survive and to never give up on our dreams without ever saying a word. She led by example.

She loved life. She was always surrounded by friends and family. She loved her daily afternoon cocktail, her cigarettes, watching football on Sundays and cooking up a storm for the entire gang. She was so extremely proud of the man my brother had become and the life we both created for ourselves.  We are both blessed beyond belief with the greatest family and friends in the world.

She was survived by her 2 children, Jamie McGovern, spouse Adeline and Karen Fagliarone, spouse Mike. She had 5 beautiful grandchildren, Michael Fagliarone, Christine McNamee, Gina Fagliarone, Kristi McGovern and Karli McGovern along with 5 great grandchildren, Michael, Madison, Emma, Myles and Lorenzo.  She always had a special place in her heart for her niece, Donna Duffy.

Due to these unprecedented times, we are not able to have a funeral service or share our loss with our family and friends. In lieu of flowers please make a donation in her name to Autism NJ https://www.autismnj.org  or www.specialstrides.com in her name. We will be having a celebration of life when things return to some normalcy. 

We want to personally thank each and every one of you that reached out to us and a special thanks to all of the heroes on the front lines that made her final days more restful. 

So, please if you are still reading this, have a cocktail tonight, raise your glass up high and honor the most important person in our lives…our mom, Betz.

Here’s to you Mom!!