WATERBURY- It is with profound sadness and broken hearts that the family of Ms. Margaret Janice Healey, lovingly known as “Peggy”, age 93, of Waterbury, shares the news of her unexpected passing on Sunday, February 8, 2026.

Peggy was born on January 13, 1933, in Waterbury, Connecticut, the daughter of the late John and Bernice (Mahoney) Healey. She grew up in Waterbury’s Hopeville neighborhood, where she attended Hopeville Grammar School and became part of a close-knit community that shaped her early life. She carried a deep pride in her Irish heritage—her father having been born in Ireland—a connection she maintained throughout her life. She later attended Waterbury Catholic High School, graduating in 1950. After high school, Peggy enrolled at Notre Dame College in Staten Island, New York, from 1950 to 1951, a college run by the Congregation of Notre Dame. She then entered the Congregation of Notre Dame community and made profession as a Catholic nun between 1951 and 1953. Teaching quickly became her life’s work.

Peggy began her career as a fourth-grade teacher at St. Jean-Baptiste High School in New York City from 1953 to 1955. She went on to teach French at St. Mary’s High School in Providence, Rhode Island, from 1955 to 1961, and later at Villa Maria Academy in the Bronx, New York, from 1961 to 1965. During this time, she attended a Level 2 Institute for French Immersion, sponsored by St. Catherine’s College of Minnesota and held in France—an experience that deepened her lifelong love of the French language and culture. She returned to Waterbury and taught French at Waterbury Catholic High School from 1965 to 1969. In 1967, Peggy earned a Master of Arts degree in French from Laval University in Quebec City, Canada, a reflection of her dedication to learning and to her students. Peggy also belonged to the Alliance Française. She loved to travel including trips to Ireland to visit cousins. She maintained many close friendships from the Notre Dame community, including Ann LoRusso.

After leaving the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame in 1969, Peggy lived for a time with her sister, Janice and her family in Windsor, Connecticut. She worked briefly as an underwriter at Aetna in Hartford and also taught French for a short period at Amity High School in Woodbridge. She soon returned to Waterbury, where she taught French at Notre Dame Academy from 1971 to 1976 and later taught French and Religion at Sacred Heart High School from 1976 until her retirement. Peggy made her home in Waterbury for most of her life. After returning in 1971, she moved back into her childhood home on Kelsey Street, a three-family house where generations of her family had lived and became the one others relied on—caring for her mother, her sister Mary Clare, and her aunts and uncle as they grew older and passed on.

In June of 1999, she moved to the Bunker Hill section of Waterbury, where she had a new house built. Outside the classroom, Peggy’s love for animals was a defining part of who she was. For more than 30 years, she bred and showed Yorkshire Terriers and Maltese and groomed small dogs. She belonged to the Naugatuck Valley Kennel Club, the Yorkshire Terrier Club of New York, and the Yorkshire Terrier Club of America, and she made many lifelong friends through the dog community. It was not unusual for Peggy to arrive at family picnics with a Yorkie or Maltese tucked comfortably in her arms. Her home was always filled with dogs—and cats—who were clearly part of the family.

Family was central to Peggy’s life. She was a proud aunt to 17 nieces and nephews and made it a point to attend their important life events. She would often tell caretakers—always with pride—that she had “17 nieces and nephews.” She leaves behind: Brian Phelan, Marcia Johnson, Terry Phelan, Jackie Hvolbeck, Clare Kindall, Bill and Paul Elmendorf, goddaughter Kay Barbieri, Chris Shannahan, Eileen Mucha, Michael, Maura, Peggy, and Kevin Hayes, Katie Ciarlo, Laura Malinin, and Liz Healey. She also loved their spouses, her great-nieces and nephews and her great-great-nieces and nephews. She shared a particularly close bond with her sisters, regularly attending Sunday Mass together at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and then heading to Mary’s Diner for lunch. She also cherished time spent at the family cottages in Southbury, built by her father and filled with generations of family memories.

She is survived by her sisters: Maureen Elmendorf, Jackie Phelan, Janice Shannahan, and Patsy Hayes. Peggy was predeceased by her parents, her brother John, and her sister Mary Clare. She will be remembered for her devotion to teaching, her love of language, animals, and family, and for the quiet, steady presence she brought to the lives of those who knew her.

Funeral services for Ms. Healey will be held on Tuesday, February 17, 2026 at 9:30 a.m. from Casey’s Eastside Memorial Funeral Home and Cremation Care 1987 East Main St Waterbury CT 06705 to the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception 74 West Main St Waterbury when a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. Burial with follow in New Pine Grove Cemetery next to her parents and her sister, Mary Clare. Relatives and friends are invited to pay their respects and visit with the family on Monday evening, February 16, 2026 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the funeral home.To honor Peggy's memory, donations to the Brass City Animal Rescue Alliance, www.brasscityanimalrescuealliance.org or to another animal rescue organization of your choosing would warm Peggy's and her families heart. Loving kindness only takes a moment to send a message of condolence, words of comfort, or share a memory with the family and friends of someone important to you. Please visit the funeral home's tribute page at www.caseyfunerals.com to send a memorial gift to the family.