Bridget Teresa McLoone, 88, devoted Irish mother and Phillies fan

BRIDGET McLOONE would sit on the porch of Villa St. Martha in Downingtown, where she was living, and look toward the nearby St. Joseph Church, of which her son was pastor.

A nice view, except for that darned tree!

The tree blocked her clear view of her son's church and she was miffed.

"Can't you cut that tree down?" she demanded.

Bridget Teresa McLoone was a determined Irish gal, a product of County Donegal, a woman who raised four children, helped send them all to college with faith and frugality, and saw them all become successes in their chosen professions.

But there was nothing she could do about that tree.

She died Wednesday at the age of 88. She formerly lived in Olney, where she raised her family.

As Bridget McHugh, she came to America alone in 1954 from a rural, sheep-herding region of Ireland at age 28 to find that the streets here were not exactly paved with gold. But Bridget would make the most of every opportunity.

"She had a great sense of drive and determination," said her son, Monsignor Joseph C. McLoone, pastor of St. Joseph. "She always knew what had to be done and how to do it."

"She was a proud, feisty Irish Catholic, very kind to her friends and family, especially her grandchildren," said her other son, Patrick J. McLoone, managing editor of the Daily News. "She was very devout.

"Our Mom insisted on being independent after our Dad died in 1993. She was very much independent until health slowed her earlier this year."

Bridget McHugh was born in Ardara, a small, picturesque town on the Atlantic coast in County Donegal, to John McHugh and the former Mary Gavigan. She received only a sixth-grade education.

For 10 years of her youth, Bridget traveled back and forth between Ireland and England, where she worked as a chambermaid in hotels. But she had to go back home frequently to look after her ill mother.

After her mother died in 1954, Bridget came to America and met up with her sister, Sally Montague, married to a plumber, who had come here earlier.

Bridget began to take what jobs she could find, including house cleaning and working in the rectory of St. Bartholomew's Church at 5600 Jackson St.

She married Patrick H. McLoone, who worked in an Acme warehouse, in 1958. Her husband, who died in 1993, was from another town in County Donegal, but they didn't know one another there.

The McLoones obviously were never rich, but they succeeded in giving college educations to all four of their children - and never having to take out a loan.

One of her daughters, Dr. Mary T. Hofmann, is chief of geriatrics at Abington Memorial Hospital, and her other daughter, Kathleen Burns, is a Philadelphia public-school nurse.

"She was unbelievably great," Kathleen said. "She was the best mom you could ever want."

Bridget was a financial wizard. She searched out the best rates for CDs and practiced a determined frugality in all her dealings.

Her son, the monsignor, said he was told by a nun who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Finance that his mother "could run circles around all the students at Wharton."

Bridget had a consuming passion for the Phillies. Joseph used the word "strident" to describe his mother's feelings for the team.

"If a game was on the West Coast, she would stay up to 2 a.m. to watch it," Patrick said. "We had friends who really knew sports who were amazed at how much she knew."

The last game she saw was one of the highlights of her sports-watching career: the Labor Day no-hitter against the Braves in Atlanta.

When Joseph arrived for a barbecue at St. Martha's that day, he found his mother watching the game in her apartment.

"Sit down," she said. "We're not going anywhere until this game is over."

When it ended with the 7-0 score, Bridget pulled on her Phillies cap, grabbed her walker and they went happily to the barbecue.

Bridget was an excellent cook in the Irish style.

"She loved to cook big meals," Joseph said.

Many of these meals were prepared at Kathleen's home in Wynnewood. "We bought her a big double oven," Kathleen said. "Her favorite thing was watching her children eat."

Besides her children, she is survived by eight grandchildren.

Services: Funeral Mass 11 a.m. Monday at St. Joseph Church, 338 Manor Ave., Downingtown. Friends may call at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Stretch Funeral Home, 236 E. Eagle Road, Havertown, and at 9 a.m. Monday at the church. Burial will be at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Cheltenham.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Villa St. Martha, 490 Manor Ave., Downingtown, Pa. 19335, or Drexel Neumann Academy, 1901 Potter St., Chester, Pa., 19013.