Obituary of Angela M. Riddle

Angela Mary Riddle, nee Buckley, died June 3, 2024 at age 86 at her home in Syracuse, New York. She was born on April 30, 1938, in Mainstir Na Corann, County Cork, Ireland, to the late John Buckley and Margaret (Walsh) Buckley. Her mother raised her and her siblings alone  after their father, who worked at the Midleton Distillery, died when Angela was 8. She attended St. Mary’s High School Mainstir Na Corann, and graduated in 1956. She learned the Irish-Gaelic language, as well as English and later attended Dr. Steevens School in Dublin, where she obtained a nursing degree and training in midwifery. As a registered nurse, she immigrated to the United States, settling in the Greater Boston area. She lived in Greater Boston communities including Somerville, and Billerica. During her career, she worked as a nurse in emergency room care, maternity, elder and rehabilitation care, as well working in several hospitals in the region. Angela married Bernard Joseph Smith, and they had two daughters, Margaret (Meg) and Catherine (Cate) Smith. She became a naturalized United States citizen. For several years, she lived in Port Orange, Florida, before relocating to Syracuse, New York, where she was cared for by Bernard as she struggled with progressive illness.

Angela was a lifelong Catholic, and sang in the choirs of churches she attended. She enjoyed traditional Irish music and Irish history and literature. She visited her family in Ireland often, as well as England, where her sister, Bettie lived with her husband, John. Her travels also included Hawaii and Miami. She enjoyed novels about police, and crime drama shows such as Blue Bloods and Law & Order, and 1970s and 1980s shows about police work.  She loved animals, nature and wildlife, and cared for some of the homeless cats, including spaying and neutering at a local veterinary clinic.

Angela is survived by her daughters, Margaret Smith and her husband, Derek Savoia, of Lowell, Massachusetts; and Cate Smith and her husband, John, of Syracuse, New York. She is also survived by Bernard, and by her family in Ireland, including her sister, Margaret (Maur) O’Neill in Gleannúir, County Cork, Ireland; her sister in-law, Pauline Buckley, of Mainstir Na Corann, and several nephews and nieces, and her close friend, Kathy Sullivan of Port Orange, Florida.

In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her brothers, Patrick and Michael Buckley; her sisters and brothers-in-law, Agnes and Russell Egan, Bettie and John Brewster, her brother-in-law, Cornelius O’Neill; her nephew, John Buckley, and her son-in-law, Lawrence Carradini, and husband, Harold Riddle.

A funeral Mass will be held at St. Daniel’s Church in Syracuse, New York on Friday, June 7, 2024 at 10am, after which her remains will be repatriated to Ireland.

Donations can be made in her memory to any Irish cultural society, animal shelter, or a charity of choice.

As the Irish would say: slán go fóill – It’s only goodbye for now.