Ahearn Funeral Home

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Ahearn Funeral Home

SuperMedia Content Disclaimer: http://bit.ly/19y2fkR The death of a family member or close friend has always been a significant time in all our lives.

Ahearn Funeral Home offers the finest choice of services available to families, whether it is simple or elaborate burial or cremation, services or funeral pre-planning. We feel a great responsibility when entrusted with the needs of the families we serve. The funeral is a summary of one's life and should express their individuality. Our goal is to make sure that your family and the loved one you bring to us is cared for with the utmost dignity and respect. Pre-planning provides peace of mind for all involved. A carefully pre-planned service can be the most comforting to your family, as it spares them from having to face decisions that can be both emotionally and financially difficult at the time of death. It can give them lasting peace of mind to know that they have acted in accordance with your wishes. Making pre-arrangements can be as simple or as detailed as you wish. You can make a selection of the services, casket, music, or simply record the information that will be needed for legal forms and other paperwork. Pre-planning ensures that your family will receive all the benefits for which they are entitled. It is important that all of your personal records, including bank account numbers, investment information, insurance policy numbers and place of important papers be accessible to your family in the event of a death. Cremation is becoming increasingly popular, especially among the baby boomer generation. Among the many reasons for this growing trend is the variety of options cremation provides for a final memorial service. Cremation gives people the flexibility to search for types of tributes that show the life being honored. But this doesn't mean that aspects of traditional funeral services have to be discarded. Even with cremation, a meaningful memorial that is personalized to show the life of the deceased could include: A visitation prior to the service, an o...

09/03/2025

Mary Jean Haug

NORTHAMPTON, MA — Mary Jean Haug (née Brown), known to friends and family as Jean, died on August 31, 2025, at Cooley Dickinson Hospital after a brief illness. She had just turned 93.

Jean was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1932. She spent most of her childhood in the Bay Ridge neighborhood, with a short stay in Coney Island. Her parents were George Brown (1911–1980) and Margaret Brown (née Pabst; 1912–1975). Jean was the second of 11 children and the oldest girl. She was very close with her brothers and sisters and helped her mother care for her younger siblings. She was known for her warm and loving nature all through her life.

Jean graduated from Bay Ridge High School for Girls in Brooklyn and worked a variety of jobs, including switchboard operator for the phone company. In 1952, she married Christian Olav Haug. They settled in Brooklyn, near where they grew up, and had two children, James and Jean Marie. In 1957, Jean and Chris moved their family to Huntington, New York, on Long Island.

In the ‘80s and ‘90s, Jean helped care for her granddaughters who were living just a few towns away. In 1998, she and Chris moved to Florence, Massachusetts, to be nearer their young grandsons in Northampton. Jean made many new friends and was a regular in exercise classes and book clubs at the Northampton Senior Center. Throughout their marriage, Jean cared devotedly for Chris, who had been injured as an infantryman in Korea.

She had a few jobs she remembered fondly, working as a nanny for a family in Cold Spring Harbor, as an administrative assistant at Christ Lutheran Church in East Northport, and as an administrator at the auxiliary bank office at SUNY Farmingdale, all on Long Island. She loved travel, too, especially trips to Israel with her church group and to London with Chris.

Jean had a great zest for life. She always looked sharp and had an enviable collection of jewelry. She enjoyed the New York Ballet; the opera, especially live at the Metropolitan Opera House; museums, especially The Eric Carle Museum; reading mysteries; PBS; her gourmet club; any social event that involved family; and a good vodka tonic.

Always a natural with kids, Jean was greatly beloved by her grandchildren. In addition to her children James Haug (Alexandra Kennedy) and Jean Marie York (Dan York), she is survived by her grandchildren Megan Rae York (Josh Albon), Katie York, John Haug, and Nikalsen Haug, as well as her great-grandchildren Quinn and Shane Albon-York. She also leaves her older brother George Brown (and his wife Greta) and her sisters Katherine Meyer (and husband Francis), Frances Pedersen (and husband Robert), and Susan Bei (and husband Robert), as well as many nieces and nephews.

Jean and Chris were married for 64 years until his death in 2016. She was also predeceased by her brothers Walter and Richard Brown and her sisters Ruth Ferares, Elizabeth Schleenbecker, and Margaret Cosgrove. Her younger sister Joan Domenech died a week before her.

Jean’s family is deeply grateful to her caretakers, especially nurses Amy Gleason and Lisa Doney, who provided her with loving care so she could remain at home as long as possible. In November, Jean moved to the Lathrop Home in Northampton, where the staff and her dear friend Lorraine Zalesky made her feel so welcome. She made many new friends there.

She will be interred with her husband Chris in the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Agawam. She requested no funeral services. If you would like to honor Jean’s memory with a charitable donation, please consider Lathrop Home on South Street in Northampton.

View Mary Jean Haug's obituary, send flowers, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.

09/02/2025

Lynne (Scharfman) Brill

Lynne Brill passed away peacefully at her home on August 28th after a long illness. She was 76. Born and raised in Albany, New York, Lynne followed in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother by attending Smith College. After graduating, she moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she met her husband-to-be, Jonathan Brill, in 1970, beginning a loving, lifelong partnership of 55 years. Early in their careers, both worked closely with young children, an experience that awakened Lynne’s calling and shaped the course of her life’s work. In 1976, Lynne and Jonathan settled in the Pioneer Valley, where she became director of Sunnyside, Smith College’s Early Childhood Center. She held that role for a decade before serving as director of the Hampshire College Early Education Center for more than twenty years. Across her career, Lynne guided countless children and families with wisdom, warmth and grace. She had an extraordinary gift for recognizing and celebrating the individuality of each child, while offering steady support to parents and colleagues alike. A devoted mentor, she encouraged her teachers with patience and kindness, fostering a rich and creative environment where everyone felt safe, supported and loved. Music was woven deeply into Lynne’s life and work. At her work, “music day” became a beloved tradition. She would sit with her guitar, surrounded by children from infants to preschoolers and fill the room with song. Beyond her professional life, Lynne’s passion for music flourished over four decades of singing with ensembles including the Springfield Symphony Chorus, the Hartford Symphony Chorale and Northampton’s Rock Voices. Her joyful spirit and radiant enthusiasm could be heard in every note she sang and seen in the deep friendships she formed within her musical communities. Lynne carried that same spirit into her social world. She delighted in connecting with others and brought light and energy to all her relationships. As one friend shared, “Lynne spread her love just by being in the presence of other people— no words needed.” This led to many deep, lifelong friendships. Above all, Lynne cherished her family. She leaves behind her beloved husband Jonathan, her son Eli, daughter-in-law Justyn and granddaughter Ella, who adored her “Lily” and the special bond they shared. She is also survived by her sisters, Wendy Scharfman and her partner Tom Blatner, and Susan Scharfman and her husband Geoffrey Pagen, as well as, nieces and nephews Jamie, Jaime, Kolton & Ethan. Lynne’s legacy lives on in the generations of children she nurtured, the colleagues and friends she inspired and the family she so dearly loved.

There will be a graveside burial service for family and friends on Monday, September 8th at 11:00 am at Wildwood Cemetery in Amherst. A celebration of Lynne's life will be planned at a future date.

View Lynne (Scharfman) Brill's obituary, send flowers, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.

08/27/2025

View Thomas J. Fenton's obituary, send flowers, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.