Obituary of Virginia B. Crilly

Born in the Bronx, the only child of Otto F. and Carolyn (Pfeiffer) Badum, Virginia was a woman of faith, intelligence, and talent. As a child she attended Sacred Heart, her parish school in the Bronx. She went on to high school at Villa Maria Academy, and attended the College of Notre Dame, Staten Island, on full academic scholarship, graduating magna cum laude with a major in English and minors in French and philosophy. She was a classically trained dramatic soprano. Prior to her marriage, she worked as an executive secretary first at ABC, then NBC Television in New York. Virginia loved the NY Yankees; among her first memories was sitting with her parents at their apartment window, listening to the crowd cheering on the Babe in Yankee Stadium. She also relished her trips to visit family friends in Quebec and summering with her Aunt Lena in Brielle, NJ. When she wasn't crabbing on the the Glimmer Glass inlet, she was "one of the boys," catching sun and the biggest fish on the open seas. When the sun set over Point Pleasant Beach, she dazzled on the dance floor late into the night. Her taste in music combined a love for opera and swing, Kirsten Flagstad and Bing. Virginia always caught the big fish, and so it was that she reeled in Dr. Marc Crilly; the couple married in 1954. They started their family in Wyckoff, then settled in Franklin Lakes, where together they extended their love to their eleven children. She delighted in sharing her home, which became the social hub for her ever-growing family. Friends of friends of friends were instantly part of the party. Beyond all these loves, Virginia had a passionate love for Jesus. She attended daily Mass, always staying after to pray the rosary. While her primary vocation was raising her children in their Catholic faith, she also taught catechism, brought holy communion to patients at Valley Hospital, and elevated the choirs at St. Elizabeth’s in Wyckoff and Most Blessed Sacrament in Franklin Lakes with her magnificent, powerful voice. Her love for her Lord only deepened her love for her family; more than her instruction and admonitions, it was her Christlike love that influenced their faith. The guests whom she welcomed into her home she welcomed as she would Christ, and she nourished them by her certainty of the heavenly banquet. She served with little complaint, even as she longed to sit at Jesus’ feet in contemplation. We pray that she now is there, looking up at her Lord with unimaginable happiness, which will not be taken away from her. Virginia is survived by ten of her eleven children: Donna of Ramsey, NJ; Denise McFadden, MD (Thomas) of Glen Ridge, NJ; Fr. Marc Crilly, OSB, of Still River, MA; John (Lisa) of Wanaque, NJ; Paul of Hawthorne, NJ; Robert (Jacqueline) of Hawthorne, NJ; Bruce (Virginia) of Stamford, CT; Carolyn of Brighton, MA; Kirsten DellaRocco (Craig) of Marlborough, CT; and Maryse Kloss (George) of Butler, NJ. She is also survived by twenty-three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband, Dr. Marc Crilly, in 1999, and by her daughter Virginia Schroeder of East Hampton, CT, in 2006. A granddaughter, Mary Therese Rose Crilly, predeceased her in 2003. Donations in her memory may be made to Saint Benedict Abbey, Box 67, Still River, MA 01467.