Ann Loraine O'Neill, active church member

Ann Loraine (Hughes) O'Neill of Lewes, formerly of Silver Spring, Md., passed away Wednesday, June 15, 2022. She is survived by her husband of 62 years, Joseph E. O'Neill; and her four children, Mary L. O'Neill-Wood (Joshua Wood), Timothy J. O'Neill and Kathleen O'Neill, all of Silver Spring, and Margaret M. Pendergraph of Romney, W.Va. She has eight grandchildren, Paul and Joshua Teodoro of Nokesville, Va., Nicole, Brian and Jacquelyn O'Neill of Millsboro, Zoe O’Neill and Silas Chapman of Lewes, and Fiona Wood of Silver Spring. Her great-grandchildren are Tucker, Hazel, Bowen, Angus and Clara Faye Teodoro.

Ann was born in Washington, D.C., in 1934 in the old Sibley Hospital, second child of Archibald Patrick Hughes of Washington, D.C., and Elizabeth Chaney of Seat Pleasant, Md. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her sister and brother-in-law, Jean and Kevin Callahan.

She attended grade school at Holy Redeemer Catholic School in College Park through the sixth grade and finished grade school and the first two years of high school at St. Mary's in Annapolis. She returned to Washington for her junior and senior years at St. Patrick's High School. She earned her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education at the former Dunbarton College of the Holy Cross in Washington, D.C. (now the site of Howard University law school). She taught first and second grades in Montgomery County Maryland Public Schools in Fairland, Clarksburg and the former Silver Spring Intermediate.

Ann married Joseph O’Neill in 1960 at St. Michaels Catholic Church in Silver Spring, Md., a marriage that lasted 62 years. She raised four children and returned to teaching as a substitute teacher for about 15 years, primarily at Montgomery Knolls Elementary School in Silver Spring. She had a wicked sense of humor but didn’t always realize it, earning her the nickname Gracie Allen. We all remember her as a lover of laughter, sarcasm, crosswords, knitting, animals, mysteries, wine and chocolate.

She was active in St. Camilla's Catholic Church in Silver Spring, where she taught Sunday School for many years. She served as a Meals on Wheels volunteer and also cooked meals for a low-income food program, and was also a member of Teams of Our Lady in Silver Spring.

Ann was an active Member of St. Jude The Apostle Catholic Church in Lewes and was a member of the church's social outreach ministry (Salt and Light) and co-chairperson of the bereavement ministry. She had also served as a Eucharistic Minister and was a member of Teams of Our Lady, a spiritual organization for married couples.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m., Wednesday, June 22, at St. Jude the Apostle Church, 152 Tulip Drive, Lewes, where friends may call beginning at 10 a.m. An additional viewing will be held the night prior, Tuesday, June 21, from 6 to 8 p.m., at Parsell Funeral Homes & Crematorium, Atkins-Lodge Chapel, 16961 Kings Hwy., Lewes. Burial will take place at 10 a.m., Thursday, June 23, at Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 26669 Patriots Way, Millsboro. 

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in Ann’s memory to Community Resource Center, 37510 Oyster House Road, Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971, rehobothcommunitycenter.org.

Visit Ann’s Life Memorial webpage and sign her virtual guestbook at parsellfuneralhomes.com.