Anna Mariah Shea, 100, of Buzzards Bay, MA, passed away in So. Kingstown, RI, after a short illness on March 18, 2020. Born at her Lavery/Diamond grandparent’s homestead in North Attleboro, MA, she grew up in the Barrowsville section of Norton, MA. She was the daughter of the late Joseph and Margaret (Lavery) Bartley, her father being the Postmaster of the Barrowsville Post Office.
Anna was the wife of the late 1st Lieut. Raymond J. Shea of Springfield, MA. They married in June, 1943, before he was deployed overseas with the U.S. Army Air Forces. He died in a WWII plane crash over the English Channel, on April 11, 1944 and his body was never recovered. Their son, Raymond J. Shea was born in June of 1944, never knowing his father. Anna was pre-deceased by her son Raymond of Buzzards Bay, brother John J. Bartley of Norton, MA and sister Margaret “Louise” (Bartley) Keane of Pocasset, MA.
Mrs. Shea was the last of ten grandchildren of Co. Down Irish immigrants James and Annie (Diamond) Lavery of No. Attleboro. Mr. Lavery owned the No. Attleboro companies of D. Evans Button Co., the J.L. Box Co. and provided the capital for the expansion of the Evans Case Co. to Alfred Reilly and Samuel Haslam, just after WW I. Mr. Lavery became the Treasurer at the Evans Case Co. and the company grew from 9 to 900 employees. The Lavery homestead of 50 years, where Anna was born, became the Brook Manor Restaurant, after the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Lavery.
A graduate of the Katherine Gibbs School, Mrs. Shea worked as a secretary at the former Defiance Bleachery in Barrowsville and at the Evans Case Co. During WWII, she became a broker for the John Hancock Insurance Co. and after the war, she studied for and received the highest grade for the test to become the Postmaster of the Barrowsville, MA Post Office. She was proud to serve the US Postal Service and was a life-long supporter of the US Veteran’s Services.
Upon her retirement, Mrs. Shea was a daily communicant at St. Margaret’s Church in Buzzards Bay and served as a Lector and Eucharistic Minister into her early 90’s. She was a member of the Catholic Women’s Club as well.
An enthusiastic golfer and bowler, she played golf weekly in the warmer months until her early 90’s and continued to bowl twice a week, until age 97. She was an avid reader and enjoyed her Taylor’s Point neighborhood of friends and the nautical activity on the Cape Cod Canal, which she watched from the sun porch of her house, which her father and brother built in 1950.
Mrs. Shea is survived by nieces, Mary M. Nunes and husband Peter of So. Kingstown, RI, Karen L. Keane of Milford, CT and nephew, Jack Bartley and wife Irene of Norton, MA.
A Private Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Margaret’s Church in Buzzards Bay, MA with private burial in St. Mary’s Cemetery in No. Attleboro, MA
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Veteran’s organization of one’s choice.
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