Mary Kay Godar Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Mary Kay Godar, age 85 passed away on the morning of July 28, 2018 after a period of declining health at the McAuley where she and her husband, Tom Godar MD, have resided since December of 2016. Born and raised in Joy and later Wynnewood, Oklahoma, she is predeceased by her parents Eula Mae and George Henry Jones, as well as brothers, Chester Lee, Robert Lee, and James Roy Jones and sister Wilma Ann (Jones) Wood. After she completed nurses training at Saint Anthony Hospital she received an RN Degree and entered the Air Force to “See the World”, she was assigned to a base in Itazuki, Japan previously used as an evacuation hospital during the Korean War. There she met Tom Godar MD, who had completed an internship at Philadelphia General Hospital and entered the Air Force as well. They married in 1958 in Japan and returned to the US in 1959 when her husband had 2 years of Internal Medicine training at the Boston VA Hospital, then they moved to Hartford for 2 years of further Internal Medicine training at St. Francis Hospital. After completing a year at Grace New Haven Hospital at Yale in Pulmonary Medicine her husband returned to develop the Pulmonary and Critical Care Section at St. Francis Hospital and they settled in West Hartford near the Hartford Tennis Club. There she learned to play and became the first woman to be Club President in 1980, a testament to her organizational and social skills. Mary Kay was active in the St. Francis Auxiliary and was a lifelong volunteer, reader, gardener, Bridge player, painter and quilter. She is survived by three children; Paula Gidopoulos, who is a Management Analyst for the Department of Mental Health in Massachusetts, her daughter Amanda Gidopoulos a successful self-employed hairdresser in Massachusetts, and Mary Kay’s great grandchildren, Kyleena and Navia; Lisa Borodovsky with a PhD in Psychology residing in Pennsylvania with her husband Lev Borodovsky who is a Wall Street Analyst, her son Jacob Borodovsky recently received a PhD in Biostatistics from Dartmouth and daughter Mariah now training in Cyber Security; her third daughter, Lynn Mollica is a Geriatric APRN practicing in Jupiter, FL, and Lynn’s daughter Allie, a gifted student and artist. She is additionally survived by Dan Jones, a nephew whose growth and education she nourished for years, Dan is a successful attorney in Norman, Oklahoma with his partner Mehry Taemi and children Ella and Jackson, as well as a large extended family in Oklahoma and Connecticut. With advanced age Mary Kay and Tom moved to the McAuley where she flourished, her floral arrangements would lead to residents labeling her “the flower lady”. There will be a cocktail reception at the Pond House, 1555 Asylum Ave. West Hartford, Monday August 6, from 4-6 p.m. to celebrate her life and many treasured friendships. In Lieu of flowers donations may be made to the St. Francis Hospital Foundation, 95 Woodland St. Hartford, CT 06105 or the Women’s Auxiliary of St. Francis Hospital, 140 Woodland St. Hartford, CT 06105 or a charity of the donor’s choice.