Virginia (Ginny) Eaton Wood Fay, 83, passed away peacefully on February 9, 2018 at home surrounded by her loving family. She was the wife of Charles Vincent Fay, Esq. for 62 years.
Born in Willow River, MN to Arthur Elroy Wood and Gertie May (Eaton) Wood. She attended the College of Saint Catherine, St Paul, MN and was with the Helen Stefan Model’s Agency in St. Paul, MN before becoming a Flight Attendant with Northwest Orient Airlines. After falling in love with C. Vincent, she began her family on Smith Hill before becoming a stenographer at Providence Superior Court and later establishing her own court reporting business. She eventually devoted herself to supporting her husband and family at what would become Fay Law Associates.
She focused her energy on her children, in addition to serving as a President of the Comstock Gardens/Olney Arnold Association which successfully pushed for city water to be supplied to Western Cranston when the wells were found to be contaminated, in addition to projects for the safety and benefit of the neighborhood children. An avid reader and lover of books, she served as President of the Knightsville Library Association as well as on numerous church and school committees. She especially enjoyed her time with the former St Ann’s parish and the Western Cranston Garden Club.
Beautiful inside and out, she was a true believer in equal rights for women and made sure her children were raised with that ideal. Her home was often the center of neighborhood activities where every child was always welcome. A lover of animals from her farm girl days, several dogs, cats, transient strays and recovering wild animals were always in residence. A direct descendent of the original Eatons on the Mayflower, she would occasionally remind her husband and children that she was not Irish if there was a disagreement between the orange and the green. Her children were always her priority and came before all else with their mutual devotion, evident by each living within minutes of her home in adulthood. A kind, patient, loving and nurturing soul, she will be dearly missed.
Besides her husband, she leaves her sons: Chief Stephen P. Fay (Bridgeton, ME Fire Dept.), Mark T. Fay (Ellen Roberts), Christopher E. Fay, Esq. (Anne Shaljian), daughters Moira E. Fay (her caregiver) and Kara M. Fay, Esq., her former daughter-in-law, Jean (Cornell) Fay; and her loving grandchildren: Shannon (Andrew) Ewing, Stephanie (Jeff) Bell, Brian, Eric, Christian, Mia and Amelia Fay, and Liam, Kierden and Ashley Drury. She was the sister of the late Elmer, Roger, Harvey, and Glen Wood and Doris Lehnert.
Visiting hours from 4-8 p.m. on Thursday, 2/15/18 at from the Russell J. Boyle & Son Funeral Home, 142 Centerville Road (Rt. 117) Warwick. Her funeral will be held on Friday, 2/16/18 at 8:30 a.m., from the Russell J. Boyle & Son Funeral Home followed by a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. at Holy Apostles Church, 800 Pippin Orchard Road, Cranston. Burial will be in the Rhode Island Veterans Cemetery, Exeter.
In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory to her favorite charities would be appreciated: Cranston Animal Shelter, 920 Phoenix Avenue, Cranston, RI 02921; Defenders of Animals, PO Box 5634, Providence, RI 02903 or defendersofanimals.org; or Catholic Charities, 1 Cathedral Sq., Providence, RI 02903. For directions and online condolences, please visit: www.boyleandsonfuneralhome.com
