Agatha M. Fay, 89, a resident of Weston since 1946, died peacefully on October 26, 2012, in the presence of family members, from complications following surgery for a broken hip. Her life was devoted to loving care for all her family members, interest in and affection for her many friends, and motherly concern for the school children she had taught . Hers was a long life, filled with rewards for all who knew and loved her.
Raised in the Bronx, NY, Gay (as she was known to her many friends) was the oldest daughter among the seven children of Agatha Tynan and Edward Kelly. As a child, she remembered her maternal grandmother and great-grandmother, both named Agatha, and was surrounded by numerous relatives living in the greater New York region. An excellent student in her parish elementary and high schools, she received a scholarship while attending the College of New Rochelle, from which she graduated in 1944. She then worked for IBM in New York and Philadelphia until her marriage to James in 1946. They subsequently resided in Long Beach CA, Boston, Hamilton OH, and Ithaca NY, before settling in Weston. A resident of Weston since 1956, Gay was an active member of her community, as a parent and a supporting member of the Roxbury-Weston Programs Inc., which sponsors an integrated pre-school program for Weston and inner city children. In 1965, when all her children attended the K-12 program in Weston, Gay decided to fulfill a lifelong ambition to be a schoolteacher. She obtained her teacher certification in the Boston school system and was appointed to the John Winthrop elementary school in Roxbury. It was a time of trial for the Boston schools as they became racially i ntegrated, and Gay seized every pportunity to hel p her students enlarge their experiences by applying for grants to aid that purpose. In subsequent years she arranged for puppet shows , trips to the Childrens Museum in Jamaica Plain, learning to ice skate at the nearby MDC rink, and a visit to her class by Hans Rey, the author of the Curious George books. In subsequent years Gay taught in elementary and middle schools in the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods of Boston, ending her career at the then Copley High School near Copley Square. Gay had a continuing ambition to learn more about childhood education. In 1973, while on leave from the Boston School system , she completed her requirements for a Masters degree from the University Maine, and subsequently specialized in remedial reading. Later, in 1981, during her husbands sabbatical year in Cambridge, England, she received a Visitors appointment at Homerton College, a teachers college of Cambridge University, where she had the opportunity to observe classes at local schools. When she and her husband retired from their teaching careers, she traveled with him by sailboat to Florida and later to an extended visit to New Delhi, India. In subsequent years, they traveled to Central America and Australia, and enjoyed sailing from their summer home in Maine. Gay had an abiding interest in flower gardens. She tended summer outdoor gardens in Weston and Maine and a winter indoor garden in Weston. She especially liked the gift of a bouquet of cut flowers in winter months, and would reward the giver with an ardent kiss said her husband.
In addition to her husband, James Fay of Weston, Gay is survived by her children and their spouses: David Fay and Roben Campbell of Harvard MA, Mark Fay of Sandisfield MA, Colin Fay and Stephanie Holmes of Brunswick ME, Jamie and Maureen Fay of Ipswich MA, Peter Fay of Jamestown RI, and Michele Fay and Tim Price of Ripton VT; eighteen grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sisters Adrienne Fischer of Media PA, Betty OBrien of Upper Saddle River NJ, Marie McCaffery of Springfield VA, and brother Brian Kelly of Southold NY.
A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at St. Julias Church in Weston, 374 Boston Post Rd., on Dec. 22 at 11 a.m., to be followed by recollections and refreshments in the church hall. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, her family suggests that gifts in her memory be given to Roxbury-Weston Programs Inc., 349 Boston Post Rd., Weston MA 02493.
Published in The Wayland Town Crier from Nov. 15 to Nov. 22, 2012
Raised in the Bronx, NY, Gay (as she was known to her many friends) was the oldest daughter among the seven children of Agatha Tynan and Edward Kelly. As a child, she remembered her maternal grandmother and great-grandmother, both named Agatha, and was surrounded by numerous relatives living in the greater New York region. An excellent student in her parish elementary and high schools, she received a scholarship while attending the College of New Rochelle, from which she graduated in 1944. She then worked for IBM in New York and Philadelphia until her marriage to James in 1946. They subsequently resided in Long Beach CA, Boston, Hamilton OH, and Ithaca NY, before settling in Weston. A resident of Weston since 1956, Gay was an active member of her community, as a parent and a supporting member of the Roxbury-Weston Programs Inc., which sponsors an integrated pre-school program for Weston and inner city children. In 1965, when all her children attended the K-12 program in Weston, Gay decided to fulfill a lifelong ambition to be a schoolteacher. She obtained her teacher certification in the Boston school system and was appointed to the John Winthrop elementary school in Roxbury. It was a time of trial for the Boston schools as they became racially i ntegrated, and Gay seized every pportunity to hel p her students enlarge their experiences by applying for grants to aid that purpose. In subsequent years she arranged for puppet shows , trips to the Childrens Museum in Jamaica Plain, learning to ice skate at the nearby MDC rink, and a visit to her class by Hans Rey, the author of the Curious George books. In subsequent years Gay taught in elementary and middle schools in the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods of Boston, ending her career at the then Copley High School near Copley Square. Gay had a continuing ambition to learn more about childhood education. In 1973, while on leave from the Boston School system , she completed her requirements for a Masters degree from the University Maine, and subsequently specialized in remedial reading. Later, in 1981, during her husbands sabbatical year in Cambridge, England, she received a Visitors appointment at Homerton College, a teachers college of Cambridge University, where she had the opportunity to observe classes at local schools. When she and her husband retired from their teaching careers, she traveled with him by sailboat to Florida and later to an extended visit to New Delhi, India. In subsequent years, they traveled to Central America and Australia, and enjoyed sailing from their summer home in Maine. Gay had an abiding interest in flower gardens. She tended summer outdoor gardens in Weston and Maine and a winter indoor garden in Weston. She especially liked the gift of a bouquet of cut flowers in winter months, and would reward the giver with an ardent kiss said her husband.
In addition to her husband, James Fay of Weston, Gay is survived by her children and their spouses: David Fay and Roben Campbell of Harvard MA, Mark Fay of Sandisfield MA, Colin Fay and Stephanie Holmes of Brunswick ME, Jamie and Maureen Fay of Ipswich MA, Peter Fay of Jamestown RI, and Michele Fay and Tim Price of Ripton VT; eighteen grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sisters Adrienne Fischer of Media PA, Betty OBrien of Upper Saddle River NJ, Marie McCaffery of Springfield VA, and brother Brian Kelly of Southold NY.
A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at St. Julias Church in Weston, 374 Boston Post Rd., on Dec. 22 at 11 a.m., to be followed by recollections and refreshments in the church hall. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, her family suggests that gifts in her memory be given to Roxbury-Weston Programs Inc., 349 Boston Post Rd., Weston MA 02493.
Published in The Wayland Town Crier from Nov. 15 to Nov. 22, 2012
Agatha M. Fay, 89, a resident of Weston since 1946, died peacefully on October 26, 2012, in the presence of family members, from complications following surgery for a broken hip. Her life was devoted to loving care for all her family members, interest in and affection for her many friends, and motherly concern for the school children she had taught . Hers was a long life, filled with rewards for all who knew and loved her.
Raised in the Bronx, NY, Gay (as she was known to her many friends) was the oldest daughter among the seven children of Agatha Tynan and Edward Kelly. As a child, she remembered her maternal grandmother and great-grandmother, both named Agatha, and was surrounded by numerous relatives living in the greater New York region. An excellent student in her parish elementary and high schools, she received a scholarship while attending the College of New Rochelle, from which she graduated in 1944. She then worked for IBM in New York and Philadelphia until her marriage to James in 1946. They subsequently resided in Long Beach CA, Boston, Hamilton OH, and Ithaca NY, before settling in Weston. A resident of Weston since 1956, Gay was an active member of her community, as a parent and a supporting member of the Roxbury-Weston Programs Inc., which sponsors an integrated pre-school program for Weston and inner city children. In 1965, when all her children attended the K-12 program in Weston, Gay decided to fulfill a lifelong ambition to be a schoolteacher. She obtained her teacher certification in the Boston school system and was appointed to the John Winthrop elementary school in Roxbury. It was a time of trial for the Boston schools as they became racially i ntegrated, and Gay seized every pportunity to hel p her students enlarge their experiences by applying for grants to aid that purpose. In subsequent years she arranged for puppet shows , trips to the Childrens Museum in Jamaica Plain, learning to ice skate at the nearby MDC rink, and a visit to her class by Hans Rey, the author of the Curious George books. In subsequent years Gay taught in elementary and middle schools in the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods of Boston, ending her career at the then Copley High School near Copley Square. Gay had a continuing ambition to learn more about childhood education. In 1973, while on leave from the Boston School system , she completed her requirements for a Masters degree from the University Maine, and subsequently specialized in remedial reading. Later, in 1981, during her husbands sabbatical year in Cambridge, England, she received a Visitors appointment at Homerton College, a teachers college of Cambridge University, where she had the opportunity to observe classes at local schools. When she and her husband retired from their teaching careers, she traveled with him by sailboat to Florida and later to an extended visit to New Delhi, India. In subsequent years, they traveled to Central America and Australia, and enjoyed sailing from their summer home in Maine. Gay had an abiding interest in flower gardens. She tended summer outdoor gardens in Weston and Maine and a winter indoor garden in Weston. She especially liked the gift of a bouquet of cut flowers in winter months, and would reward the giver with an ardent kiss said her husband.
In addition to her husband, James Fay of Weston, Gay is survived by her children and their spouses: David Fay and Roben Campbell of Harvard MA, Mark Fay of Sandisfield MA, Colin Fay and Stephanie Holmes of Brunswick ME, Jamie and Maureen Fay of Ipswich MA, Peter Fay of Jamestown RI, and Michele Fay and Tim Price of Ripton VT; eighteen grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sisters Adrienne Fischer of Media PA, Betty OBrien of Upper Saddle River NJ, Marie McCaffery of Springfield VA, and brother Brian Kelly of Southold NY.
A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at St. Julias Church in Weston, 374 Boston Post Rd., on Dec. 22 at 11 a.m., to be followed by recollections and refreshments in the church hall. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, her family suggests that gifts in her memory be given to Roxbury-Weston Programs Inc., 349 Boston Post Rd., Weston MA 02493.
Published in The Wayland Town Crier from Nov. 15 to Nov. 22, 2012
Raised in the Bronx, NY, Gay (as she was known to her many friends) was the oldest daughter among the seven children of Agatha Tynan and Edward Kelly. As a child, she remembered her maternal grandmother and great-grandmother, both named Agatha, and was surrounded by numerous relatives living in the greater New York region. An excellent student in her parish elementary and high schools, she received a scholarship while attending the College of New Rochelle, from which she graduated in 1944. She then worked for IBM in New York and Philadelphia until her marriage to James in 1946. They subsequently resided in Long Beach CA, Boston, Hamilton OH, and Ithaca NY, before settling in Weston. A resident of Weston since 1956, Gay was an active member of her community, as a parent and a supporting member of the Roxbury-Weston Programs Inc., which sponsors an integrated pre-school program for Weston and inner city children. In 1965, when all her children attended the K-12 program in Weston, Gay decided to fulfill a lifelong ambition to be a schoolteacher. She obtained her teacher certification in the Boston school system and was appointed to the John Winthrop elementary school in Roxbury. It was a time of trial for the Boston schools as they became racially i ntegrated, and Gay seized every pportunity to hel p her students enlarge their experiences by applying for grants to aid that purpose. In subsequent years she arranged for puppet shows , trips to the Childrens Museum in Jamaica Plain, learning to ice skate at the nearby MDC rink, and a visit to her class by Hans Rey, the author of the Curious George books. In subsequent years Gay taught in elementary and middle schools in the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods of Boston, ending her career at the then Copley High School near Copley Square. Gay had a continuing ambition to learn more about childhood education. In 1973, while on leave from the Boston School system , she completed her requirements for a Masters degree from the University Maine, and subsequently specialized in remedial reading. Later, in 1981, during her husbands sabbatical year in Cambridge, England, she received a Visitors appointment at Homerton College, a teachers college of Cambridge University, where she had the opportunity to observe classes at local schools. When she and her husband retired from their teaching careers, she traveled with him by sailboat to Florida and later to an extended visit to New Delhi, India. In subsequent years, they traveled to Central America and Australia, and enjoyed sailing from their summer home in Maine. Gay had an abiding interest in flower gardens. She tended summer outdoor gardens in Weston and Maine and a winter indoor garden in Weston. She especially liked the gift of a bouquet of cut flowers in winter months, and would reward the giver with an ardent kiss said her husband.
In addition to her husband, James Fay of Weston, Gay is survived by her children and their spouses: David Fay and Roben Campbell of Harvard MA, Mark Fay of Sandisfield MA, Colin Fay and Stephanie Holmes of Brunswick ME, Jamie and Maureen Fay of Ipswich MA, Peter Fay of Jamestown RI, and Michele Fay and Tim Price of Ripton VT; eighteen grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sisters Adrienne Fischer of Media PA, Betty OBrien of Upper Saddle River NJ, Marie McCaffery of Springfield VA, and brother Brian Kelly of Southold NY.
A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at St. Julias Church in Weston, 374 Boston Post Rd., on Dec. 22 at 11 a.m., to be followed by recollections and refreshments in the church hall. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, her family suggests that gifts in her memory be given to Roxbury-Weston Programs Inc., 349 Boston Post Rd., Weston MA 02493.
Published in The Wayland Town Crier from Nov. 15 to Nov. 22, 2012
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