Virginia M. Read

Virginia “Jeanne” Mary Read of Tenafly passed away on December 5, 2019. Born in 1927 to John and Nora (Fitzpatrick) Tooher in Washington Heights, New York City, where she attended St. Catherine’s Academy and then Grace Institute, Jeanne worked as a secretary at Metropolitan Life and in advertising agencies in Rockefeller Center. In June of 1951, she married Alfred W. Read, Jr., and moved to Hollis, Queens, where their two sons, Gregory and Christopher, were born. A daughter, Virginia, followed two years after their move to Tenafly, New Jersey, in 1957. After her children were raised, Jeanne returned to work as office manager for several doctors in Bergen County, impressing all with how efficiently she ran each practice. Staff and patients loved her. She was predeceased by “Al,” her beloved husband of 53 years; by her brothers, John and James Tooher, and her sisters, Catherine Beirne and Nora O’Brien Harmon; and by her son, Greg, who passed in July of this year. She is survived and missed by her son, Christopher (Vicki) and daughter, Virginia (Terry Adams); her beloved grandchildren, Deborah Keeran (Ryan), William Read, and George Adams; three great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews. She was a long-time parishioner of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Tenafly, and St. Francis Parish on Long Beach Island, and a member of the Tenafly Women’s Club. Jeanne was blessed with the bluest eyes, the sweetest smile, and a devilish Irish wit. She loved spending time with her extended family and her friends; her favorite place was her house “down the Shore” on LBI. Like all the Tooher girls, she was beautiful and smart and kind and strong and liked a good party and a better story. We raise our glasses to her (make Jeanne’s a Manhattan). Visitation for friends and family will be held on Tuesday from 4-7 PM at Barrett Funeral Home 148 Dean Dr., Tenafly. Funeral Mass, Wednesday, 10 AM at Mt. Carmel Church, Tenafly with burial to follow at Rockland Cemetery, Sparkill, NY. Donations in her name to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital would be much appreciated.