Anne Marie Harrington Gay, who was born in Warren and spent most of her life there, passed away peacefully on August 6, 2021, at the Lake Manassas Health and Rehabilitation Center in Gainesville, Virginia, surrounded by her family. She died five days after her 95th birthday.
She grew up on Chestnut Street on the west side of Warren as the fourth of five children. Anne was preceded in death by her parents, Thomas Edward Harrington (1952) and Anna Munson Harrington (1967), her siblings, William Harrington (1945), Ella Harrington Cashman (2009), Alice Harrington Johnsen (2002), Dr. John L. Harrington (2021), her grandson, Patrick Ryan Gay (2007), her daughter-in-law, Pamela Jane Kettis Gay (2019), and her former husband, John Robert Gay (1984).
Anne is survived by her three children, Elizabeth A. Gay of Warrenton, VA, Timothy M. Gay (spouse Elizabeth Oualline Gay) of Vienna, VA, and Thomas J. Gay of Warrenton, VA, as well as five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, including two great-grandsons born this spring, which delighted her.
A medical technician by training, she received a degree from the Thomas Jefferson Medical Center in Philadelphia, having previously studied at the Norfolk campus of William & Mary University/VPI. She worked in the lab at the Warren Medical Center from 1963-1970 and at Warren General Hospital from 1970 until her retirement in 1990. She ran Warren General Hospital’s Blood Bank for several years in the ‘70s and ‘80s.
After her graduation from Warren High School in 1943 at age 16, she lived with the family of her sister, Ella Harrington Cashman, and Ella’s husband, Dr. William M. Cashman, while he served as a surgeon at the Norfolk, VA Naval Hospital during World War II. Upon returning to Warren, she pursued her career as a medical technologist at Warren General and became active in the Warren Players’ Club. After moving to Lansing, Michigan with her husband, she moved to northern New Jersey with her young family in 1954, returning to Warren nine years later.
For many years, she was a faithful member of St. Joseph’s Catholic parish, serving as an usher. In 2013, she moved to Warrenton, VA, to be closer to her children and grandchildren.
She loved old movies, dime store novels, the Great American Songbook, and the music of Tony Bennett, whose date of birth, she was always proud to point out, came just two days after her own. She also loved playing cards with her grandchildren, especially 500 Rummy, where she gave no quarter.
A memorial service in Warren is scheduled for Saturday, October 16. A visitation will be held October 16 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Joseph’s Church, followed by a memorial mass at St. Joseph’s at noon, a 1:00 p.m. gathering at St. Joseph’s Cemetery, and a reception to follow at the Conewango Club.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Warren County Historical Society (www.warrenhistory.org) or the Patrick Ryan Gay Scholarship Fund (www.patsq.com/). Local arrangements have been entrusted to the Donald E. Lewis Funeral Home, Inc., 304 East St., Warren, PA. E-mail condolences may be sent by visiting www.lewisfuneralhomeinc.com.
Tim, Tom, Beth and family,
I am sorry to read about your Mama’s passing. She was a dear and I always enjoyed being with her. She will be missed.
Best, Pat Swanson
We hope all your great memories continue to bring smiles to your faces in this time of loss. We know all the family up there is celebrating together in peace and happiness.
Much Love,
Katie McAvoy LeBlanc
Tom, Tim, and Beth –
Sorry to hear about your mother, but at 95, I guess, that if you’re not good kids by now, she’s got a better place to go…
She could always see through us, which was a very moralizing moment …
Yassas ..