Rachel Patricia Hennelly

Rachel Patricia Hennelly August 9,1960—October 20, 2022 Rachel Hennelly, 62, died in hospice care at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, New Jersey, on October 20th. Her presence was a gift to the lives she touched, and remembering her creativity, determination, and optimism will be a blessing. Ms. Hennelly was predeceased by her mother, Patricia Lawrence, and her father, Robert P. Hennelly Sr. Her surviving relatives include her older siblings Bob, Jennifer, and Andrew, as well as her younger brothers David and Christopher. She is also survived by her sisters-in law, Debra Sabatini Hennelly and Anna Hennelly, as well as nieces Emily Hennelly McCollum, Abigail Hennelly, Rebecca Hennelly Rezach, and nephews Austin, Griffin, and Nolan Hennelly. Ms. Hennelly was a ballet dancer, a member of Actors’ Equity and the American Guild of Musical Artists, a juggler, and a prolific folk artist. She designed and made marionettes—from carving to costuming—that she used to entertain children of all ages in the subways and streets of NYC, or wherever people would gather. She routinely set up shop in New York City outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art or near Lincoln Center to sell her creations, which were like her children. Her Magical Marionette Theater entertained thousands of children and adults at dozens of venues, including: the Lincoln Center Out-of-Door Festival; the Museum of Natural History; the Brooklyn Academy of Music; Paramount Theater; Madison Square Garden; and was selected to be an act for the MTA’s Music Under New York Series, as well as the Holiday Market at Grand Central Station. Ms. Hennelly studied with Irene Fokine and American Ballet Theater. She was an experienced juggler, who combined the circus arts with dance in appearances at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, and the New York Theater Ballet, Gould Hall, the National Actor Theater Gala with Tony Randall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Children’s Festival, the Showboat Casino, and several other regional theaters across the country. “One of the highlights of the divertissements was a lively Russian carnival sequence in which Rachel Hennelly juggled while she danced,” wrote Jack Anderson, dance critic with the New York Times, of Rachel’s performance in “The Nutcracker” for the New York Theater Ballet. She had been a featured dance soloist with the Houston Grand Opera, the Lake George Opera Festival, the Village Light Opera and performed with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. She was a founding member of Ballade Dance Company. A funeral mass will be held on Monday, October 31 st , at 10:00 a.m., at St. Francis of Assisi Church, 50 Lodi Street, Hackensack, New Jersey. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation in Ms. Hennelly’s name to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. A private interment will follow at Maryrest Cemetery in Mahwah, New Jersey.

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Rachel Patricia Hennelly

August 9, 1960 - October 20, 2022