Anthony Joseph Dunleavy Service Information

Anthony J. Dunleavy passed away peacefully on Friday, October 11, 2019. He was 85 years young.

He was the beloved husband of Mary V. Agnew Dunleavy for almost 60 years.

Born in Philadelphia, he was the son to the late Anthony J. Dunleavy and Elizabeth McGarry Rattigan.

He attended St. Timothy’s in Philadelphia for grade school, and was a proud graduate of St. Joseph’s Prep (1952) and St. Joseph’s University (1956), where he was a history major. (If he were writing this, this is where he’d insert “The Hawk Will Never Die!”)

Upon his college graduation he enrolled in the U.S. Marine Corps. He spent two years in active duty, serving in Japan and the Philippines. He then spent three decades in the Marine Reserves, retiring at the rank of Colonel. He also served as Commanding Officer of MACS-17 (Marine Air Corps Squadron 17), based at the Willow Grove Naval Air Station.

After a dissatisfying start in insurance sales, he became a housing and community development consultant, helping small towns and counties apply for state and federal funds to help improve their communities. In 1985, he started his own small firm, Anthony J. Dunleavy Associates, in Upper Darby, PA, with most of his clients in Delaware County and Chester County. He loved his job, his colleagues, and his clients, only recently retiring. He also loved his family, summers at the Jersey shore, Big 5 college basketball, travel, mystery novels, jazz, Irish dancing, theatre, biographies, the New York Times, good food and wine, and ice cream; this last was a love he passed down to the generations to follow. He had an uncanny memory for good meals, able to recall the exact details of meals he ate at particular restaurants 20 or 30 years ago (also, what Mary ate, which he usually managed to “help” her finish!). He was a man of many names: family knew him as “Don,” work friends and neighbors knew him as “Tony,” some called him “A.J.,” and he was proud to be known as “Bing” to his grandchildren, whom he spoiled.

In addition to his wife, Anthony is survived by his loving children, Kevin A. Dunleavy of Philadelphia, Regina Poserina and her husband John of Cherry Hill, NJ, Timothy J. Dunleavy of Mt. Laurel, NJ, and Sheila Hoag and her husband Joseph of Cherry Hill, NJ.  He is also survived by his 5 grandchildren, Sarah Poserina, Bridget Poserina, John Poserina IV, Allison Hoag and Brendan Hoag, as well as his sister Maripat Brown. He was predeceased by an older sister, Barbara.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend his viewing on October 18, 2019 from 9:30 AM until his Funeral Mass 10:30 AM at Nativity of Our Lord Church, 605 Street Road, Warminster, PA 18974. His interment will follow at Resurrection Cemetery, Bensalem.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Anthony’s name may be made to Sacred Heart Church, 1739 Ferry Ave, Camden, NJ 08104, or www.sacredheartcamden.org.

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