First Posted: 2/10/2013
Irish eyes were crying.
An Irish funeral for Mary (Molly) Engleman Akulonis marched down North Main Street in the Junction on Wednesday from the Paul F. Leonard Funeral Home to Our Lady of the Eucharist Church.
Akulonis passed away peacefully at home surrounded by family on Saturday February 2, 2013
About 75 mourners, wearing green and white carnations on their lapels, walked alongside the hearse.
Akulonis, a lifelong resident of the Junction section of Pittston, was very proud of her Irish heritage handed down from her mother, the former Mary Hogan. Her family wanted to hold a funeral which would honor that Irish pride. The procession was led by Irish bag piper James Sweeney of the Scranton Fire Department. Sweeney played Irish melodies at both the church and the cemetery.
The day’s cold and overcast weather perhaps was fitting for a ceremony celebrating the life and death of a local woman who loved her Irish roots.
Her family members said that Molly would have loved the unique way in which she was remembered by those closest to her.
Akulonis was a graduate of Pittston High School and was employed at Topps Chewing Gum, where she was a long-time member of the Teamsters Union. She served as the first female vice president of the Teamsters Local 229.
All agreed that Molly probably was smiling and having a good laugh as she looked down on her loved ones.
Akulonis was buried in Saint Joseph’s Cemetery, Duryea.
For Alulonis’ obituary, see page 52.