February 16, 2014 (Harrison, NJ) Officers from the Harrison Police Department and the Hudson County Sheriff's office assisted, both inside and outside the Mulligan's Funeral Home in Harrison, those wishing to extend to Mayor Raymond J. McDonough's family their condolences on his passing.


Mourners Carry Flower Wreath to Honor Mayor Raymond McDonough. Photograph courtesy of NJ.com


There was also a display of photographs and Mayor McDonough's memoriabilia including a "Shovels in the Ground" display of several of the ground breaking ceremonies attended by Mayor McDonough. On display both in the funeral home and the nearby Town Hall were photographs from a picture of Mayor McDonough and his twin brother on a pony when they were babies to more recent pictures of Mayor McDonough in front of the Harrison Path Station annoucing the Port Authority of NY and NJ plan to revitalize the station into a modern transit hub.

At one point the line stretched down the block leading to the funeral home and snaked through rooms in the Mulligan's Funeral Home that were opened for the first time in recent memory to accomodate the large number of mourners. Photographs displays throughout the funeral home allowed mourners to reflect upon the life of Mayor McDonough while waiting on line.

One of many photograph displays at Mayor McDonough's wake. Photograph courtesy of NJ.com


Various elected officials attended the wake to express their condolences to Mayor McDonough's wife, Constance McDonough and the greater McDonough family. It is expected that Holy Cross Church will be filled to capacity tomorrow for the funeral mass which is scheduled for 10 a.m.

Department of Public Works Snow removal crews continued their work removing snow one block over from the funeral home on Hamilton Street. When the anticipated snow storm on Tuesday and with no thaw in the forecast for the coming week, Mayor McDonough would no doubt wanted the snow crews to continue their work. The last interview conducted with the media was a Channel 12 interview one day before his passing about how efficient the Town of Harrison is during and after snow storms in plow and snow removal operations. The Mayor was very joyful during the interview and showed no foreshadow of the events to come the following day.