MaryEllen Hannan

MaryEllen Hannan died peacefully in her home in Moss Creek on September 21, 2025, three days before her 89th birthday, in the gentle and loving company of her family and caregivers.

Mrs. Hannan was born September 24,1936 in Hamden, Connecticut to her parents, Louis and Anna (Barna) Cipriano.  After graduation from Hamden High School, she worked as a secretary at Southern Connecticut State College in New Haven.  Upon marriage to her first husband, Edward Andersen, she moved to Brandford, Connecticut where she worked as a legal secretary for the law firm of Kilpatrick, Kahl, and Josephson.  MaryEllen married Macgregor Kilpatrick after his wife, Ruth, died in 1977.

Mac and MaryEllen moved to Moss Creek in 1980.  Both worked part-time in the legal profession before MaryEllen established and managed the Carriage House, a women’s sportswear clothing store in Main Street on Hilton Head Island.  During this time, she was very involved with the local effort to elect Democrats to political office.  It was in Moss Creek that MaryEllen, under Mac’s tutelage, fell in love with the game of golf.  She played as often as time allowed and even made a “hole-in-one” in 2005.  She was dubbed “The General” by the women who played in her Saturday golf group for her efficient management of their scheduled tee times.

MaryEllen was devastated when Mac died in 1998.  However, her life began anew when she accepted an invitation from Harry Hannan, whose wife, Ellie, had died a few years prior, and married him in 2000.  She and Harry became active in St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church and joined the choir where she developed deep friendships that brought her joy to the very end of her life.  MaryEllen not only sang in the choir but also served as its music librarian.  Her choir friends started a book club which MaryEllen enjoyed for years, and which gave her an opportunity to vociferously express her negative opinions as well as her positive ones.  The “Lit Wits” provided solace and kept her busy even after Harry died.  Also keeping her well-entertained was a group of wonderful friends with whom she played bridge from time to time. 

MaryEllen was devastated once again when Harry Hannan died in 2023.  Although she lived alone for the last two years of her life, she kept active in the company of her dear friends – her “Lit Wits”, her bridge group, her golfers, her incredibly attentive neighbors, and visits from her family.  She was surely blessed to have so many warm-hearted people caring for her.

MaryEllen Hannan is survived by her step-daughters, Ellen Hannan (Kevin), Susan Demoulas (Jack), Jane Kilpatrick, and Polly Davis-Gall (Louis); niece, Linda Balgowan (Dennis), and nephew, Daniel Cipriano (Mia); as well as six step-grandchildren and thirteen step-great-grandchildren – all of whom are enormously grateful for all the birthday and Christmas gifts each one of us received from her.  Not always on time, but that’s another story.

If you wish, a donation in MaryEllen’s memory can be made to St. Francis Center, 85 Mattis Drive, P.O. Box 682, St. Helena Island, South Carolina 29920