Cornelius J. McQuillen

Cornelius James McQuillen, who all knew as Cory, passed away peacefully on 09/08/2023 at the age of 84. He was predeceased this past April by his beloved wife of 59 years Patricia. Treasured father to Suzanne, Cornelius and his wife Christine, William and his wife Regina, Kenneth and his wife Niki, and Matthew and his husband Marcelo.

Cory is survived by his brother Kevin and his siblings thru marriage Billy McNamara, John McNamara, Kenny McNamara, and Noreen Felicelli.  And dearest to him, his thoroughly adored grandchildren Erin, Brian, Colleen, Farrin, Liam, and Kelly.

Cory was born and raised in Brooklyn, growing up in Bay Ridge. He attended College of the Holy Cross graduating with a degree in history, a subject that fascinated him throughout his life. He served in the Navy post graduation and after getting married and beginning a family he resigned from the service to pursue a sales and marketing career with IBM.  He began his tenure at IBM selling typewriters and went on to have a professional life there which spanned over 30 years in various professional capacities including event planning, which he loved as it afforded him the ability to travel, interact with tons of people and further hone his super power of micromanagement. He ended his long career arc by working for several years at Strategic Events.  

His career path led to frequent relocations with the family living in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Minnesota, and eventually back to New Jersey. During the time spent in each of these places Cory developed enduring friendships which have lasted over many moves and throughout his years. The family arrived back in the northeast closer to long-time friends and extended family but Cory did keep a bit of the Mini-Apple in his heart and could easily be nudged to belt out the Minnesota Golden Gophers fight song, in its entirety, at any moment. The final home Cory and Pat shared in Wanaque, after 30 years in Oakland, was the perfect bookend enabling them to settle in nicely while adding to their roster of lovely friends and good times.

Cory encountered numerous health challenges most of his adult life which he took in stride and as a result he was surprised and delighted to have lived such a rich and long life. He was quick witted, good natured and liked to chat. He was an avid reader, loved music {with a special penchant for disco and power ballads} and was also a huge movie fan. After retiring he delighted in taking classes in pottery, cooking and watercolor, but his favorite encore career was simply being Pop.  He thoroughly enjoyed every minute spent with his grandchildren, and did his level best to engage with them about the things that interested them be it music by Polo G or Taylor Swift, what classes they were taking, trips they had planned, lingo they would use or television shows they were watching. His kind demeanor and lovely warm spirit will be greatly missed.

Family and friends may visit on Wednesday, September 13th from 4:00 – 8:00 PM at Vander Plaat Funeral Home located at 257 Godwin Ave., Wyckoff, NJ, 07481. A funeral mass will be held on Thursday, September 14th at 11:00 AM at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church at 17 Pompton Avenue, Pompton Lakes, NJ, 07442.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Wanaque First Aid Squad located at 5 Melrose Ave, Wanaque, NJ 07465. In the past few years they were called several times to help our parents during a crisis. Every member of the squad we encountered was unfailingly professional, comforting and helpful. As a smaller borough any donation you might consider making to them would most certainly enhance their ability to serve the community.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Cornelius J. McQuillen, please visit our floral store.