Mary Ellen Halstead R.N., 75, passed away peacefully in the early hours of Easter Sunday, April 5, 2026, at Bridges by Epoch Memory Care Assisted living in Trumbull. Recently of Bridgeport and Fairfield, Mary Ellen was born on May 10, 1950 at St. Vincent’s Hospital, second of six children of Bob and Marie (Flanagan) Halstead of Travis Drive in Bridgeport. She attended St. Patrick School and Notre Dame Girls’ High School, a proud alumna of the class of 1968. From there she went on to extensive education and careers in teaching and nursing, following the example of her mother and aunts. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from College of White Plains in 1972 and master’s degree in French from Middlebury College (including a year at the Sorbonne in Paris) in 1973 and taught French and later German in New Haven and Reading, Massachusetts. After moving to Ohio in 1975, she pursued degrees in nursing from The Ohio State University, earning her BSN and MSN degrees and becoming a Registered Nurse. She worked at Children’s Hospital in Columbus until 1993, when she moved back to Bridgeport. There, and later in New York and New Jersey, she worked with the Visiting Nurse Association and as an elementary school nurse until her retirement in 2019. She was a devout Catholic, deeply involved with the Dominican community in Ohio and with the Daughters of Charity, the Missionaries of Charity, the Order of Mother Teresa in Connecticut, Baltimore and New York, for whom she was a tireless volunteer. As a Lay Missionary of Charity, Mary Ellen served as the liaison for Sick and Suffering Coworkers throughout the country and internationally. Mary Ellen was the pioneer traveler in her family, the first to go abroad and discover personally her roots in Ireland; all of her siblings would eventually follow her path and meet their innumerable cousins in Sligo and Galway. Mary Ellen later made pilgrimages to Medjugorje and Rome. She was her family’s photographer, recording decades of her family’s life. She was an avid swimmer and bicyclist, and recently coached a youth softball team in Maryland. Mary Ellen is survived by two sisters, Joan Marie Halstead of Lady Lake, FL and Elizabeth (James) Keefe of Milford; three brothers, Robert E. Halstead Jr. of Bridgeport, John M. Halstead (Deborah Jankura) of Shelton, and Mark R. (Sharon) Halstead of Fairfield; sister-in-law Joan Carty; and thirteen nieces and nephews: Conor (Kiersten) Halstead (and their daughters Flora and Liesel), Catherine Conroy (Brian Grabowski) Halstead, Garrett Halstead, Kevin (Meenal) Winter, Patrick (Siobhan) Keefe, Jeremy Halstead, Bridget Halstead, Robert Halstead Keefe, Samuel Halstead, Amy Halstead, Emily Halstead, Margaret-Agnes Halstead and Bryan Keefe. She leaves behind her many Flanagan, Money and Beardsworth cousins and devoted friends. She was predeceased by beloved cousins Michael Flanagan Money, John Paul and Patrick Flanagan, Suzanne Walsh, Nancy Turlish, and Ray and Bob Beardsworth. Memorial contributions in Mary Ellen’s name may be made to aid the work of the Missionaries of Charity (1070 Union Ave., Bronx, NY 10459). Friends may call Thursday, April 9 at Redgate-Hennessy Funeral Home, 4 Gorham Place, Trumbull between 9:00 and 10:45 AM, with the Mass of Christian Burial at 11:30 AM at St. Theresa Church, 5301 Main St., Trumbull, with Fr. Brian Gannon as celebrant and Mary Ellen’s dear cousin, Rev. Msgr. Michael Flanagan of Columbia, MO as honorary concelebrant. Interment will be at St. Michael’s Cemetery, Stratford. To send condolences visit www.redgatehennessy.com