Mary Ida Cammisa

Of Alexandria, Virginia; passed away peacefully on July 17, 2014, at Goodwin House Bailey’s Crossroads. Loving wife of the late Guido F. Cammisa; devoted mother of James E. Cammisa, Anne Marie Cammisa (Paul Christopher Manuel), and Michael X. Cammisa; cherished grandmother of Maria Teresa Manuel and Rosa Caterina Manuel.

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Mary Ida Hitchman was born on January 16, 1918, in Mount Pleasant PA, the youngest child of John J. and Anne Clancy Hitchman. On the morning of December 7, 1941, she took a train to Washington and soon began a career in the federal government. She was followed in early 1942 by her mother, her brothers J. Joseph Hitchman and Edward R. Hitchman, and her sister Katharine H. Thomas. (Her brother Paul L. Hitchman remained in Pennsylvania to raise a large extended family in greater Pittsburgh.) Mary Ida worked as a secretary for the Navy, Army, and Defense departments and the Bureau of the Budget, but her longest tenure was as an executive secretary in the Department of State. A fond memory was meeting General Dwight D. Eisenhower and receiving a personal autograph in his book “Crusade in Europe.”

On June 11, 1955, she married Guido F. Cammisa, owner and director of the Alexandria Clinical Laboratory, and they settled in Old Town to raise their family. Over the years she volunteered at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, St. Mary’s Parochial School, St. Mary’s Academy, Bishop Ireton High School, Meals on Wheels, and the White House Greetings Office. In the 1970s, with the encouragement of a friend, she began taking classes in oil painting at the YWCA and became an accomplished artist. Guido retired in 1984, and in 1989 they moved to the Montebello condominium community in Fairfax County. Guido passed away in 1998 and Mary Ida moved to Goodwin House Bailey’s Crossroads in 2000, where she continued her artistry with ceramics, and concluded a long and happy life surrounded by family and friends.

The family will be present at the Demaine Funeral Home, 520 South Washington Street, Alexandria VA 22314, on Friday, August 1, 2014, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will take place on Saturday, August 2, 2014, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary's Catholic Church, 310 South Royal Street, Alexandria VA 22314. Interment to follow at St. Mary’s Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Development Office – St. Mary’s, 407 Bertrand Hall, Notre Dame IN 46556-5000 (www.cscsisters.org).