Mary Q. Rees

Mary Quinn Rees, 93, of Asylum Avenue, West Hartford, beloved wife of John H. Rees Jr. died peacefully at home, surrounded by her family, on July 6, 2006, after a long illness. She was born in 1913 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania a daughter of John J. and Margaret Smith Quinn. There she attended St. Mary Grammar and High School, and was the roller skating champion at the local play ground. She graduated from Misericordia College in Dallas, PA in 1934. During the Great Depression and WW II, Mrs. Rees was employed as a Visitor and Supervisor for the Pennsylvania Department of Public Assistance, where she met her husband, a fellow employee. They married in Wilkes-Barre in 1944. She later worked as a grade school teacher in Massachusetts and New Jersey. After moving to West Hartford in 1966, although she had skipped 4th grade herself, Mrs. Rees taught 4th grade at St. Timothy School in West Hartford, culminating her career with a promotion to Vice Principal until her retirement in 1977. Mrs. Rees was a communicant of St. Thomas the Apostle Church in West Hartford for 40 years, and a member of the St. Thomas Women?s Club. She was a volunteer at the gift shop of St. Mary?s Home for the Aged. Mrs. Rees was an avid reader in many subjects, especially British history. She enjoyed travel to Europe and particularly the British Isles with her husband and family. In the last few years of her life, she met the increasing challenges of physical impairments with courage and dignity. Besides her parents she was predeceased by her 5 brothers and 4 sisters-in-law John and Mary, Peter and Catherine, Thomas and Helen, Paul and Kay, and Edward the Reverend Peter, CP Quinn, and an infant sister, Margaret Quinn. She was also predeceased by her nephews Arthur Quinn and John Murphy, and her niece Catherine Quinn. Besides her husband, Mrs. Rees is survived by her daughter Molly Rees Gavin of Wethersfield, and her daughter and son-in-law Joanne Rees and Robert Kaczor of Meriden, her beloved grandchildren Megan Rees Gavin, serving with the Peace Corps, in Nicaragua, and Michael Rees Gavin, of Reston, VA, and Sarah Kaczor of Meriden. She is also survived by her nieces and nephew Miriam Quinn Murphy of Westfield, New Jersey and Mr. and Mrs. John Quinn of Stamford, and several grand-nieces and nephews. In addition she is survived by her husband?s siblings and a brother and sister-in-law all of PA Jane Turley, Shirley and Walter Fleet, Grace Rees, Mildred Plummer, Ronald Rees, Doris Rees; and their families. The family wishes to express appreciation to close friends Barbara and Bob Berry, Rayda Bouma, Winnie Schmidt, and the Eucharistic Ministers of St. Thomas the Apostle Church for their many kindnesses. We offer our fervent gratitude to Mrs. Rees?s skilled, compassionate, and devoted caregivers, Danuta Sinhewicz and Alena Stefaniuk, who worked tirelessly for her comfort. We would also like to thank Gregory Sheehan, MD the staffs of Mercy Home Healthcare, and the CT VNA Hospice, especially Barbara Sinatra, Ellen Schaan, and the staff of Connecticut Community Care Inc., especially Mary Fuller, for their dedicated and professional care. Funeral services will be Monday at 9:30 am from the Molloy Funeral Home 906 Farmington Ave. West Hartford, with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 am in St. Thomas the Apostle Church. Burial will follow in Fairview Cemetery, West Hartford. Friends may call from 3-6 pm Sunday at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to Connecticut Community Care Inc. at 43 Enterprise Drive. Bristol, CT 06010, in recognition of many valuable services, or to the Archdiocese of Hartford Office of Radio and Television, 15 Peach Orchard Road, Prospect CT 06712 in appreciation for their televised Mass, or to a charity of the donor?s choice.