Obituary of Cornelius J. Mahoney

Cornelius J. Mahoney, 87, of Gulf Breeze, Florida, passed away on June 7, 2019

Visitation will be held 6-8pm on Thursday, June13, 2019 at Vander Plaat Funeral Home in Wyckoff, New Jersey.  Funeral services will be held at 10am on Friday, June 14 at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Wyckoff, NJ with Father Carlos officiating. Burial will follow at Maryrest Cemetery in Mahwah, NJ where Neil will be laid to rest with his wife, Trudy.  Arrangements are made by Vander Plaat Funeral Home.

Neil was born in the Bronx, NY to Irish immigrant parents on October 5, 1931. He graduated from Cardinal Hayes High School and went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Fordham University in 1953.  He married his teenage sweetheart, Trudy, on June 7, 1952.  They were married 55 years and had five children. 

Neil joined the ROTC in high school which he continued while at Fordham.  Upon graduation he served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force at Langley in Virginia for 2 years.

Neil had a remarkable career as a pioneer in computing. Entering the workforce when some of the world’s largest and best known companies needed computers to handle massive workloads, like payroll, Neil was handed the keys to multi-room, multi-million dollar computers and asked to make it work. He started with Johnson & Johnson in New Jersey and went on to provide his expertise to Mack Truck, ITT, and Madison Square Gardens. His skills and knowhow caught the attention of the Canadians, so he moved his family to Montreal, Canada in 1973 and “made it work” for Bell Canada and later for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in Toronto.  An extraordinary career by any standard, but more impressive was Neil’s unwavering devotion to his family, all things Irish, and his brilliant sense of humor, revealed through enjoyable stories, pint in hand.

After retiring, Neil and Trudy moved to south Florida where he provided his handyman skills to St. Andrews Club and the Unity Church of Delray Beach. 

Neil was preceded in death by his parents, John and Mary (Chamberlain) Mahoney, his brother John Mahoney and wife of 55 years Gertrude M. (Kummer).

He is survived by his sister Eileen Reilly of Morristown, New Jersey, and his five children and their families: son, John Mahoney (Sharon) of Oakland, New Jersey.  Daughter, Patricia Mahoney of Peterborough, Ontario.  Son, James Mahoney (Debi) of Ajax, Ontario. Son, Michael Mahoney (Kristina) of Cooper City, Florida.  Daughter Teresa Cutler (Scott) of Gulf Breeze, Florida. Grandchildren: Megan Mahoney, Lynn (Jeff) Lareau, Michael Mahoney, Caitlin (Will) Burridge, Tawnya (Geoff) Chorney, Tarah (Scott) Hill, Jessica (Zack) Stalnaker, Mandy Cutler, Matthew Cutler.  Great grandchildren: Lily, Maeve, Brooklyn and Alex, Ryan and Rachel, Asher and Romie, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and a few lifelong friends.

Pallbearers will be John Mahoney, James Mahoney, Michael Joseph Mahoney, Michael John Mahoney, Scott Cutler, Matthew Cutler.

Special thanks to the staff and residents of the Watermark of Gulf Breeze Assisted Living Facility and to the wonderfully caring staff of Emerald Coast Hospice of Pensacola, Florida.