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- [S4] Obituary.
Born in Concord, MA in 1924 to Hannah and William Marchant, and residing in Arlington, VA since 1964, Priscilla Ruth Mayer remained living independently at home until she passed, age 96, on May 29, 2021 in Warrenton, VA. She spent only one month of hospital, rehab and nursing home due to a fall and discovery of underlying lymphoma in late April.
Priscilla had many friends with whom she stayed close over her long life. Some were fellow nursing students at the Mass General. Priscilla was selected to enroll in the Public Health Service’s Nurse Cadet program to replenish domestic hospital staffs after they were all sent overseas to serve the war effort in WW II. She is registered at the Women’s Services Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery for that accomplishment. After the war she was selected for pre-med training, but got married and moved to Concord, Mass to raise a family instead. She lived In Conantum there and picked up more lifelong friends as well as a love for gardening.
With her husband, Rollin, transferred from MITRE Corp, Bedford, Mass to McLean,VA in 1964, Priscilla found a house in Rivercrest and put in a Japanese garden with a pond that became her favorite spot. After tending that garden, with it’s abundant bamboo and Japanese shrubs, she loved to sit and watch the June fireflies take create a twinkling cascade of light throughout the garden at nightfall. She also cherished the fox and deer that visited her yard often, as well as the swooping red cardinals, and her glorious magnolia and weeping cherry trees.
Raising children who liked to perform, Priscilla took an active role in making costumes for their school and church productions, as well as the Arlington Children’s Theatre. She also travelled, to Bermuda, Quebec, and especially Nova Scotia, where both her parents were from. She loved England as well, and travelled to Suzuki Summer Institutes in Ontario and Colorado with her piano student grandchildren, and didn’t miss any of her daughter and granddaughter’s drama and musical productions in Northern Virginia or her youngest daughter’s roles at Arena Stage.
Eventually she returned to nursing at a geriatric facility in Cherrydale, 4 miles from her home. Never learning to drive, she walked to her night shift, in her nurses uniform, at 10pm and walked home at 7am over many years, with a walkman to listen to classical music, miraculously with no incidents.
Her greatest comfort over the years has been prayer. In 2008, she completed a theological educational program at the Washington Cathedral, administered by the School of Theology, the University of the South. She was a founding member of the Prayer Group at St. Peter’s that meets and prays weekly, and delivered Meals on Wheels. Her many prayer books and guides are underlined profusely — especially passages about healing and forgiving.
But Saturday afternoons at 1pm were always reserved for the Metropolitan Opera Broadcast. She couldn’t understand why everyone wasn’t an opera buff! She hosted many young opera singers who passed through the Wolf Trap summer opera training program and remained in contact with some of them ever after. The Opera was a great joy to her and she loved to go to the Kennedy Center especially.
She leaves immediate family to cherish her memory: son Jonathan (and Robin) Mayer of Rancho Cucamonga, CA daughters Diana (and Craig) Yankes of Pittsburgh, PA. Elisabeth (and Kenneth) Taylor of Marshall, VA, and Caroline Goell (and Richard Schellenberg) of Frederick MD. She also leaves beloved grandchildren LCDR Jennifer Franco (Alexandria, VA), Heather Mora (and her children) of Laguna Nigel, CA, Rebecca Walker of Wellington, NZ, Andrew Yankes of Oakland, PA, and Hannah (and Dylan) Taylor Voss of Marshall, VA.
She also leaves siblings by marriage Loomis (and Carey) Mayer of Croton-on-Hudson, NY, and their children, and James (and Jane) Mayer of Oakland, CA and their son.
A Memorial Service will be held June 19th at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Arlington VA. Due to COVID restrictions, seating is limited. Please inquire about available seats with diana.Yankes@gmail.com. Otherwise you can watch a live stream on the Church’s Youtube.com webpage. Condolences may be sent to the family at MoserFuneralHome.com webpage. To donate in her memory, we invite you to contribute to her beloved St. Peters Episcopal Church, Arlington, VA 22207 online at www.saint-peters.org, or to “Support the Met Broadcast Campaign” Lincoln Center NY online at www.metopera.org
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1924 - 2021 (96 years)
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