Winifred Reilly

Winifred with Louis Pungi (personal picture)

Winifred Reilly is my hero. She was really brave when she came to America in 1962 at the age of sixteen. When Winifred got to the airport she was amazed that some doors opened automatically, she was scared of escalators, and held a phone up-side down. Winifred also grew up believing the streets in America were paved in gold.

Winifred at the Bronx St. Patrick's Day Parade (personal picture)

Winifred’s first job in America was working for a wealthy family from Newport, Rhode Island. She was in awe at the size and splendor of the house. Winifred sometimes would get lost in the halls. She thought it was crazy how they wore gowns to dinner.

Winifred married Bernard Coyle when she was twenty-four. They then split up when her youngest of four girls was two and her oldest was six or seven. I think it was amazing how she did that. Winifred was a single mother during the 1970’s. She raised four girls: Maureen, Ellen, Annette(my mom), and Sheila. Winifred was a superintendent of an apartment building. Some people thought she couldn’t do it because she was a woman without a husband, but she proved them wrong. Winifred took this job so she could spend more time with her children.

Winifred put others before herself. She took Irish women into her apartment that needed food to eat and shelter to stay in and let them live with her until they could support themselves.

Winifred’s experience as an immigrant made her adaptable to change. She and her children moved at least four times. Winifred moved from County Cavan, Ireland, to Rhode Island, to Manhattan, to the Bronx, back to Manhattan, then back to the Bronx again. Whatever the circumstances, Winifred always managed to be happy.

Even when Winifred’s children got older, she still put them first. When Winifred met Louis Pungi her life changed, she was able to retire! Winifred had put off retirement. She helped her daughter Maureen go back to nursing school by watching her oldest granddaughter Sinee. Winifred also helped her daughter Ellen by watching her granddaughter Kelsey when Ellen had to go back to work as a teacher. Then again Winifred helped her daughter Sheila so she could go back to school for speech pathology by watching her grandchildren Emma, Semus, and Peyton. After Peyton was in Kindergarten Winifred retired.

In 1999 Winifred had the honor of being the first Grand Marshall of the Bronx St. Patrick’s Day Parade. They picked her for this job because she was an outstanding person and raised four children on her own. Winifred got picked also because she worked hard on being a superintendent of a building. I would like to be just my her when I grow up.