Denise Michelle Bonner Liss, 72, beloved mother, sister and wife, died at the Capital Caring Health Halquist Center, in Arlington, Virginia, on November 6, 2020.
She was born in the suburbs of Philadelphia and grew up in Brookhaven, PA, the second oldest of eight girls by Eleanor Strootman Bonner and Bernard H. Bonner. She graduated in 1966 from Notre Dame High School in Moyland, PA, married David G. Liss of Folsom, PA on August 22, 1970, and then settled in Ridley Park, where they began raising the first four of their children. Her husband’s career relocated them in 1979 to the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., where she had her fifth child and lived the remainder of her life.
In Virginia, Mrs. Liss became an active and devoted member of Our Lady of Angels RC Church in Woodbridge, VA. Her creative talents were often on display in the décor of the church and in fundraising events, and her cooking skills earned her a position as the rectory chef. Her spirituality and compassion led her to become a Eucharistic Minister, taking Holy Communion to the sick and home-bound.
She loved entertaining others with her goofy humor, even during her last days amusing visitors and nurses with costume hats and injecting levity into the gravity of her illness with an endless stream of jokes and wit. Her favorite audience, though, was her large extended family, including her children and grandchildren, her siblings and their spouses, and generations of nieces and nephews. She most enjoyed being at the Jersey shore with this crew, watching the waves, playing with her grandchildren in the sand, hosting big family dinners, and then walking the boards in the evenings.
In addition to her husband of 50 years, Mrs. Liss is survived by her five children: Margaret Mary Liss, of Alexandria, VA; Thomas Bonner Liss, of Centreville, VA.; Andrew David Liss, of Brooklyn, NY; Mary Kay Bonner Liss, of Kauai, HI; and Michael John Liss of Charlotte, NC; sisters Carol Grugan of Aston, PA; Bernadette Canuso of Sea Isle City, NJ; Marjorie Bingnear of Boothwyn, PA; Mary Frances Sandilands of Chichester, PA; and Joanne Bonner of Maui, HI; her brothers-in-law; seven grandchildren and numerous nieces of nephews.
Mrs. Liss was preceded in death by her parents and by her beloved older sister Eleanor Bracken, by her younger sister Jeanne Bonner, and by her nephew Joseph T. Bracken Jr.
A small memorial service will be held in advance of cremation on November 13, 2020 at the Mountcastle Turch Funeral Home, 4143 Dale Blvd., Dale City, VA. A Memorial gathering takes place from 10 to 11 am and services begin at 11 am.
Because her heart never left the Delaware Valley, the funeral will be held in Brookhaven, PA, at Our Lady of Charity RC Church, 231 Upland Rd., on November 16, 2020. A gathering will take place at 10 AM, followed by a Funeral Mass at 11 AM. Interment will follow at Sts. Peter and Paul Cemetery, 1600 S. Sproul Rd., Springfield, PA 19064. Funeral arrangements in Delaware County were in the care of the Bateman-Allen Funeral Home.
Remembrances in lieu of flowers should be sent to the Capital Caring Health Halquist Center, 4715 15th St. N., Arlington, Virginia 22205.
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