Maureen Charley

Maureen Patricia Charley (Sullivan) Our much beloved mother and grandmother Maureen Patricia Charley, 92, of Maple Bluff, WI passed away peacefully on February 21st, 2026.Maureen was a proud Chicago native. She was born on June 10, 1933 and was raised on the south side of Chicago by her mother Virginia Phoebe Sullivan and her maternal grandparents, Jesse Mortimer Squire and Mary Squire (Cravak.) Virginia worked hard to support Maureen and her brother Ronald “Sol” Thomas Sullivan, including a stint as one of the first female administrators in a leadership position at Kodak. Maureen’s grandmother Mary was a skilled home cook and baker, and Maureen would rave about Mary’s famous strudel pastries. 

Maureen’s grandfather was a professional cook and Maureen had many fond memories of visiting him in his kitchens. (Despite her family’s culinary history the chef gene skipped a generation - Maureen did not cook. She only had us over to her house for a meal once in thirty years. Ironically Maureen’s daughter Pat, her son-in-law Roger and her grandson Sam all went on to own and operate restaurants.) 

Maureen and her brother Ronald (“Sol”) attended Hirsch Metropolitan High School in Chicago. She went to college in the early 1950s at University of Illinois Chicago’s campus, which was then situated on Navy Pier on Lake Michigan. Maureen loved her time at Navy Pier, which was primarily established for service members returning from World War II. Maureen and her friend Elaine Lange found it convenient that the majority of the students on campus were men. 

In 1953 Maureen met her husband Alfred “Al” Bertram Charley, not at Navy Pier but through her brother Sol, who was a college friend of Al’s from Southern Illinois University. They fell in love and were married, and shortly thereafter moved to Carbondale, IL. They had two children, Patricia Ann and Michael Allan. Some summers the family would live at Maureen’s grandparents’ home in Chicago while Al worked on the railroad. Eventually Al became a grade school teacher, and Maureen and Al moved their family frequently to follow Al’s teaching work: to Valley City, ND, Wentworth, WI, and Superior, WI. 

Al became an accomplished artist and sculptor. The Charleys moved to western Pennsylvania for Al's art professor position at Clarion University of Pennsylvania. The family eventually landed in the nearby tiny town of Foxburg, which didn't have much except for a golf course and a gas station. Maureen was cosmopolitan at heart and was thrilled when her family took a year long sabbatical in Toronto - she was sick of small town life. In 1987 Maureen was devastated by the sudden loss of her husband when Al was killed in a car accident. He was 57 years old, and slated to be Pittsburgh Artist of the Year. Maureen and her daughter Pat arranged for the art show to be held in his memory. In 1991, after Al’s passing, Maureen moved to join Pat and her family in Madison, WI. We are grateful to have had Maureen close to us for so many years. 

Some of our favorite qualities of Maureen include: 

* She proudly finally got her driver’s license when she was in her mid 30s and liked to brag that she got the highest score. 

* She graduated summa cum laude when she was in her 50s from Clarion University of Pennsylvania with an undergraduate liberal arts degree. 

* She was a lifelong lover of the arts, theater, and film. Maureen skipped over more pleasant fare for dark and obtuse art house works. 

* She loved Fellini, Bergman, Sam Shepherd, Tom Stoppard. Her granddaughter Siena inherited her love of movies and now works in the film industry. 

* She always kept up with politics and was a lifelong Democrat.

* She loved the color purple. 

* She had a sometimes raunchy and subversive sense of humor and would make us all laugh until we cried.

* She was a sharp critic. 

* She loved rock n roll of the 60s and 70s - The Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bob Dylan. 

* She loved a night out for a nice piece of salmon and a gin & tonic.

* She was a caring daughter and sister and would often visit Virginia and Sol in Chicago. 

* She did not have a typical grandma cottage. Her home was teeming with art and sculptures from all over the world (much of it from her husband Al, their friend the sculptor Jim Leedy, and other artists they socialized with.) 

* She loved sweets and would get mad at you if you had her over for dinner but didn't offer dessert. 

We will remember Maureen for her intelligence, her sense of humor, her opinions, her love of art and culture, her silliness, her toughness, and her warmth. She was one of a kind and we will miss her terribly. 

Maureen is survived by her daughter, Patricia Ann Charley (of Madison WI), her son, Michael Allan Charley (of New York, NY), her son-in-law Roger Brown (of Madison WI), her grandson Samuel Alfred Brown (of Madison WI) and her granddaughter Siena Sara Brown (of Los Angeles CA.)