Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) Class of 1967 graduate, former Asbury Park Press reporter, nurse, cook, teacher and environmentalist, Patricia (Patty) Shaheen, passed away peacefully on Dec. 24, her family at her side, at Riverview Medical Center. She was 74.

After graduation from RFH in 1967, Patty studied nursing at Seton Hall University. She went on to receive her master’s degree in Marine Biology from Georgian Court University, Lakewood.

After a short period in the convent, Patty began her career as a short order cook at Longo’s in Sea Bright where she met her husband, Tim. She then worked as a registered nurse and a teacher. She taught at St. Catherine’s Grammar School in Keansburg and also was an adjunct professor at Wagner College in Staten Island, NY. She also worked as a stringer for the Asbury Park Press as well “and was thrilled every time one of her articles got a byline.”

“Patty spent many years as a volunteer for the NOAA Fisheries at the Marine Labs on Sandy Hook, where she loved going out and performing surveys and sampling in the Atlantic ocean and the rivers. She wrote papers on both winter flounder breeding habits in the Navesink and copepods which she got published in journals. Patty loved birdwatching and wildlife. She spent many hours observing boats, fishermen, clammers, sunsets and star gazing from the well-known gazebo at her waterfront home on the Navesink River.”

Loved ones of Patty Shaheen in her obituary

Patty leaves behind: her husband of 49 years, Timothy Sr.; four children, TJ, Lisa, Michael and Brian; six grandchildren, the loves of her life, Joseph, Felix, Ayla, Huntyr, Bryelle and Easton; her siblings, Gregory Busichio and Kathleen Hilmer, both of Fernandina Beach FL, Peter Busichio, of St. Augustine, FL, Maryanne Busichio, Lincroft, and Carol Perl, Center Harbor, NH.

Patty was predeceased by: her father, Robert Busichio; her mom, Genevieve Richichi (Walsh), and a brother, Robert Busichio.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to:
St. Vincent dePaul Society at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Highlands, NJ. OLPH St. Vincent DePaul Society,
114 Center Ave. Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716
Or the NJ Audubon Society.

A funeral mass will be held at St. Agnes’ Church at 11 a.m. on Jan. 8, 2022.

— Edited obituary prepared by family via John E. Day Funeral Home

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