Mary Elizabeth Garrett Way

Mary Elizabeth Way of Boones Mill Virginia, died peacefully at Roanoke Memorial Hospital on October 19, 2011 at the age of 92. Mary, known to all as “Polly”, was born to Walter and Frances Garrett in Glens Falls NY on August 14, 1919. Polly’s early childhood was filled with her father’s violin concerts, as well as her mother’s pastel portraits. As a child she spend many idyllic summers in the 1930’s at her parents’ summer camp on Pilot Knob, Lake George, a place she would return to many times throughout her long life. With her parents’ encouragement, Polly was able to develop a fine singing voice, skills in playing the piano, and an eye for charcoal and pastel portraiture. After graduating from Glens Falls High School in 1937, Polly attended Syracuse University from 1937 through 1941, where she met the love of her life, Donald Way of Niagara Falls. They married in June 1942. When Don returned from the Pacific Theater in World War II, he and Polly settled down in an apartment in Glens Falls, where they would start their lives together. They enjoyed participating in many Operetta Club productions along with her father and brother Dick in the late 1940’s. Raising a brood of three children while Don’s career took the family from Glens Falls to Albany, then Omaha, Toronto, Syracuse, and the suburbs of Philadelphia over thirty years, Polly successfully juggled the roles of wife and mother with office manager in a variety of local businesses. She was a loving parent who encouraged her children to follow their dreams. Her eternal optimism, infinite patience, easy-going nature and kindness toward others made her a wonderful role model to her children and all who knew her. When her children were grown, Polly and Don moved in 1977 from Wayne, Pennsylvania to Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia where they enjoyed a bucolic existence for over 20 years. Polly joined the women’s auxiliary at Franklin Memorial Hospital in Rocky Mount Virginia, where she volunteered over 8500 hours during two decades while also making countless teddy bears and cradle caps for children and newborns in the hospital. Their last move was to Boones Mill Virginia in 1997 to live near their daughter Anne Way Bernard and son-in-law Stephen Bernard, whose devoted attention made it possible for both Don and Polly to remain in their own home despite their advancing years. With the help of Anne, a professional artist, Polly was able to rekindle her own passion for oil painting, an interest she inherited from many previous generations of her mother’s family going back to Joseph Mallord William Turner, the groundbreaking English impressionist of the late eighteenth century. In June 2011 Polly was thrilled to be able to participate in the wedding of her only granddaughter Emily Way Kapoor in Baltimore MD. Polly was predeceased in April 2010 by her husband Don after 68 years of marriage, and her brother Dr. Richard Garrett Sr. of Hudson Falls. She is survived by a cousin Shirley Friday of Greenwich, NY, her eldest son Dr. David Way of Ithaca, NY, daughter Anne Way Bernard and her husband Steve Bernard of Boones Mill VA, her younger son Dr. Daniel Way and his wife Dr. Harriet Busch of Glens Falls NY, grandson Andrew Way of Brooklyn NY, granddaughter Dr. Emily Way Kapoor and her husband Dr. Shawn Kapoor of Pittsburgh, PA. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 26th at the Boones Mill Christian Church at 1 PM. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Franklin County Humane Society. Arrangements by Flora Funeral Service & Cremation Center, Rocky Mount.