Frances Farley Whelan passed away peacefully in the company of her two sons on October 19, 2022, after a short illness. A resident of New Rochelle and parishioner of St. Catharine’s Church in Pelham for almost 60 years, Frances was born on December 1, 1930, to Anne Conboy Farley and Frank Michael Farley of Riverdale.  Frances graduated high school from Elizabeth Seton School, earned a bachelor’s degree from The College of Mount St. Vincent and obtained a master’s degree in philosophy from Fordham University. While raising her two young sons, she was a reporter for the Pelham Sun newspaper and then spent two decades as a Payroll Administrator for the Archdiocese of New York.  Frances was a longtime devotee of the Metropolitan Opera with her sister, Marjory Farley of Riverdale, a lover of classical music, a voracious reader and a crossword puzzle aficionado. Frances was a longtime member of The Manor Club of Pelham and an active participant in its Literature group up until the time of her passing.

Frances was married in 1957 to William J. Whelan, Jr., also of Riverdale, who predeceased her in 1994.  Her sister Marjory also predeceased her in 2017. Frances was the mother of William James (Susan) Whelan III of Rye and Thomas Farley (Megan) Whelan of Scarsdale, grandmother to Thomas Farley Whelan, Jr. of Denver, Colorado, Robert Phillips Whelan of Medford, Oregon, Michael Francis Whelan of Tempe, Arizona, Mary Whelan (Christopher) Lovely of Sugar Land, Texas, Patrick Marren (Diana) Whelan of Rye, David Farley (Keillan) Whelan of New York, Helen Catherine (James) Wittpenn of Atlanta, Kelly Susan (Bradley) Larkin of Rye, and Caroline Emily Whelan of New York, and had 10 great grandchildren. Frances led an exemplary Christian life and will be greatly missed by her whole family and by all who knew her.

Frances will be waked on Friday, October 28, 2022, from 3-7 pm at Pelham Funeral Home, 64 Lincoln Avenue, Pelham, NY.  A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated on Saturday, October 29, 2022 at 10:00 am at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, 559 Pelham Manor Road, Pelham, NY. Interment will be at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, NY.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations in her honor to the Gregorian University Foundation, to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or to The Manor Club of Pelham.

Editor’s note: This obituary was provided by the Pelham Funeral Home.