Ileane Mary Brosnan, 89, of Woonsocket, died Monday, Nov. 7, 2016, at the home of her daughter and son-in-law, John and Marilyn Nissen in Woonsocket.
Funeral services were Monday, Nov. 14, at St. Wilfrid Catholic Church in Woonsocket with Fr. Jim Friedrich officiating. Visitation with a 7 p.m. scripture service was Sunday, Nov. 13, from 6-9 p.m., at Basham Funeral Home in Woonsocket.
Ileane was born Dec. 25, 1926, to Frank and Mary (Olinger) Jackson on a farm near Woonsocket. She had two brothers, Jerry and Darrell, and three sisters, Iola, Lois and Delores.
She attended Woonsocket School and graduated from Lane High School. She then attended college at Wessington Springs to receive a teacher’s certificate. She was teaching all eight grades in a country school by the time she was 17 years old.
On Aug. 2, 1947, she married John R. Brosnan at St. Wilfrid Catholic Church in Woonsocket. They had one daughter, Marilyn, and one son, Morris. Ileane helped her husband restore and sell new and used farm equipment, and they also raised sheep, black angus cattle, chickens and geese. She was an excellent cook, an accomplished seamstress and raised large gardens. She and her husband enjoyed playing cards, square dancing and taking trips together.
Ileane was a member of St. Wilfrid Catholic Church, where she sang in the choir and was also involved with St. Joseph Catholic School Mothers Club. She was deputy auditor at the Sanborn County Courthouse, worked at the Meadows Café, and helped at the B & N furniture store in Woonsocket.
She is survived by her two children, Marilyn (John) Nissen of Woonsocket, and Morris (LaVonne) Brosnan of Rapid City; two grandsons; and five great-grandchildren.
Ileane was preceded in death by her husband, John; mother and father, Mary and Frank; brother, Darrell; and sister, Iola.