Mary Dempsey Obituary

Mary Frey Dempsey

1918 - 2023

Remembered by many as the quietly gracious First Lady of Connecticut from 1961 to 1971, Mary Frey Dempsey, widow of Governor John Dempsey, has died at her home in Dayville, in the 105th year of her life.

She was born on the original Armistice Day, November 11, 1918, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the third of five children of Carl A. and Margaret Sampson Frey. Like so many, her family followed the textile industry from Rhode Island to Massachusetts to Connecticut. It was in Putnam, Connecticut, in January of 1934, that she met her future husband. They married at Saint Mary's Church in Warren Rhode Island on July 27, 1940, and then settled, making Putnam their home. It was there that they became parents to four children, three sons and one daughter. On January 24, 1961, after Mass in their parish church, they set off for life in the Governor's Residence in Hartford, for what would become their new home for the next ten years. Though never a great devotee of public life, Mary resolved to continue to be what she most wanted to be, a good wife and a good mother. After ten years in office, the Dempseys moved to Mumford Cove, Groton, Connecticut, for the ensuing seventeen years. In late 1988, the couple returned to The Quiet Corner and Alexander's Lake in Dayville, for what would be the final months of the Governor's life. There, in their new home, he died on July 16, 1989.

She is the last of her family of origin as she was predeceased by her parents, her brother, Carl Frey, and her sisters Genevieve Frey, Rita Bush, and Margaret Molleur, as well as a niece, Patricia Davidson and a nephew, Frank Riley.

She is survived by her four children and their families: Father Ed and Tim Oliver of Woodstock, John, Jr. and Dot Maynard of Dayville, Margaret and David Gankofskie of Willington, and Kevin and Marilynn (Lynn) of West Hartford. She also leaves ten grandchildren: Darren, Jessica, Brian, Stephen, Katie, John, III, James, Patrick, Brendan, and Gemma, as well as sixteen great grandchildren: Desmond, David, Jordan, Maya, Jamill, John, IV, Everett, Brooklynn, Hunter, Page, Mia, Arianna, Noelle, Logan, Grace, Mckenna, and three great-great grandchildren: Abigail, Teddy, and Bennett, as well as two nieces, Joan Bennett and Mary Margaret Bennett, and a nephew, Frederick Riley.

Particular thanks to the staff members of Day Kimball Hospital Healthcare at Home and Hospice and Palliative Care of Northeast CT; their care and support have been stellar!

Funeral services will be celebrated at Saint Mary of the Visitation Church, 218 Providence St. Putnam, on Friday, November 10, 2023 with visitation from 10:30 to 11:45 and the Mass of Christian Burial at 12:00 noon. Burial will be private.

Donations would be gratefully accepted to the Dempsey Neonatal Nurses Training Endowment Fund, The UConn Foundation, P.O. Box 712659; Philadelphia, PA 19171-2659. For Memorial Guestbook, visit www.GilmanAndValade.com