Bernard Doran Sr.

“The funeral of Bernard Doran Sr., will be held tomorrow from the Bert M. Fay Funeral Home, 332 Harrison avenue, Harrison, to Holy Cross Church, that town, where a high mass of requiem will be offered at 9 A. M.  Burial will be in Holy Cross Cemetery.

Mr. Doran died Friday at his home, 525 Hamilton street, Harrison.  He was born in Ireland 57 years ago and came to this country as a child.  He had lived in Harrison since 1925.  He was a veteran of World War I.

Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Mary Mahoney Doran; two daughters, Misses Margaret and Elizabeth, and five sons, Bernard Jr., James, Peter, William and Joseph, all at home.”

Funeral prayer cards are often overlooked when doing genealogical research, but they can often be very helpful.  Sometimes these small cards even solve difficult brick walls, and help to pinpoint what dates to look for when searching for a death record or an obituary.  Although some facts may be wrong in the obituary, usually the funeral card will give the right date of death, and that can be very helpful when searching for records.

This one for Bernard Doran, Sr., of Harrison, Hudson County, NJ was in black and white. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1890.

As these cards are posted on our blog, my sister and I will put up an obituary, if we have one.  The obituary may have some facts wrong, but we will use the actual words and punctuation used in the newspaper.  We are very lucky that our mother had a habit of saving these cards in her prayerbook . Hopefully they will help others in their family research.