Naperville Resident Denise Nelligan, Longtime Educator and Golfer, Dies at 88

Denise M. Nelligan, a longtime Naperville resident who taught in Chicago schools and spent decades in parish and community life, died October 21, 2026, from complications of Alzheimer's disease. She was born July 6, 1938, and died peacefully, according to her obituary.

Nelligan was preceded in death by her husband of 64 years, Brendan T. Nelligan. She is survived by her children Mary Ellen, Donna Placke (Dennis), Ann Laboe (Matt) and Brendan (Meg). She also leaves behind a large family that includes grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, siblings, in-laws, and many nieces and nephews.

Her education and her faith were closely tied to the Sisters of Mercy. She grew up in St. Gabriel parish, where the Mercy nuns taught her and she worked in the convent. She went on to attend Mercy High School and St. Xavier College, and she later taught alongside the sisters at St. Gabriel School. At Mercy High School she formed friendships that lasted, including a blind date on St. Patrick's Day 1956 with the man she would later marry. She added more lifelong friends at St. Xavier and DePaul University.

Education was a lifelong passion. Her family says she encouraged and helped her siblings, children, grandchildren and extended relatives find the educational path that suited each of them. She also remembered her own students fondly throughout her life.

From 1960 to 1964, Nelligan taught in the Chicago Public School System. She then stepped away from teaching to raise her family, which her obituary describes as her greatest life's work. After several corporate transfers, the family settled in Naperville in 1975 and stayed for nearly 50 years.

In Naperville, the Nelligans were active parishioners at St. Raphael Catholic Church, where Denise served on the Religious Education Board and the Parish Council. She was also an avid golfer. Beginning in the early 1980s, she played in the Thursday Springbrook Ladies Golf League for almost 40 years. She and her husband also spent 20 good years at their Spring Run home in Estero, Florida.

The family expressed particular thanks to the caregivers and staff at American House in Oak Park for their kind and compassionate care.

A visitation will take place Wednesday, October 28, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Friedrich-Jones Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 44 S. Mill St., Naperville. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow Thursday, October 29, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Raphael Catholic Church, 1215 Modaff Rd., Naperville. The funeral Mass will be live streamed. Interment at SS. Peter & Paul Cemetery in Naperville will be private.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in her memory to University Advancement at St. Xavier University in Chicago, or to the Capital Fund Campaign at St. Raphael Catholic Church. More information is available from Friedrich-Jones at (630) 355-0213 or on the funeral home's website.