FOURTH GENERATION
Great-Grandparents
Michael and Margaret Carney

married 4/19/1948

14. Michael Patrick Carney  was born in New York on 3/31/16 to Thomas and Margaret Carney.  He was involved in WW2.  From the pictures I believe I have seen, I would say he was a sailor of some sort. He married his youngest sister's best friend, Margaret Coffee, when he was 32.  The profession listed on his marriage certificate was mechanic, but he was a electricity technician. Sadly, he died in 1948, soon after becoming a husband and before becoming a father.

15. Margaret D. Coffey (Carney Smith).  Margaret or Margie or Marge as she was known to friends and family, was born on 8/28/1928 to James and Sabina Coffee in New York City. 

When she was 16, her brother John Thomas was killed in the attack on the USS Franklin (WW2). John was a smart, affectionate, handsome and funny young man and it was a terrible, terrible loss for the family.

One of her friends when she was young was Roseleen Carney.  She met Michael Patrick Carney, Roseleen's older brother and they developed a mutual interest.  He was significantly older than she was and I am not sure her mother was wholly on board with the idea of them being together.  I recall being told that Margaret was sent out to California for a long vacation to visit her uncle Aidan who was a Monk in Southern California.  (It seems Aiden knew about movie stars and sent the family citrus every Christmas). She enjoyed the trip, but it did not dissuade her from her interest in Michael. They married on April 19, 1948 when she was 19 years old.  Margaret was married to Michael Patrick for a sadly short time short time.  Soon after they were married, on July 28, 1948, the two went out to celebrate Margaret's news that they were going to have a baby and that night Michael died of an apparent heart attack (or maybe aneurysm). Their daughter, Barbara, was born on January 21st, 1949, almost 6 months later.

Several years later, Margaret met Edward Smith, a conductor with Amtrak and a veteran of WWII. The two married and had 6 more children.

Margaret and Eddie lived for some time in Greenwood Lake where other members of Marge's family lived.  it was a small town.  Eddie was a conductor for Amtrak and I am assuming he came for long visits. Eddie was also a veteran of WW2 and had terrible memories of that time. He was soft spoken and also funny (of course), and one of the most generous people I have ever met.  He loved to tell  stories.

At some point, they moved to New Jersey (Morrisville) and had quite a time raising a hilarious and rambunctious group of children.  Their home burnt down a time or two and they just kept rebuilding. Margaret worked in an office.  I have no doubt she had it well in hand.

Margaret was funny and strong and smart.  She loved to read and she was a devout Catholic.  She is sorely missed by her family. When she died, her daughter and executrix, Susan Smith, found a letter with detailed instructions for her burial including how much to pay for various aspects of the service.  The letter started with "I have dropped dead."