Garvin, Annie Kathleen
Annie Kathleen Garvin, long time resident of Island Heights, New Jersey, passed away on October 22, 2019 at the age of 87 years. Daughter of the late Daniel Garvin and Margaret Garvin (nee Slevin) she is survived by her sister Genevieve Tinney of Ballyshannon, County of Donegal, Ireland and numerous nieces and nephews located in Ireland, England, Wales and New Zealand. Annie will also be very missed by those who shared her life in the United States.
Born and raised on a farm in Ballyshannon, in the County of Donegal, Ireland, Annie immigrated to the United States at an early age and lived and worked in the City of Boston while attending Boston College where she received her Bachelors and Masters degrees. She later completed her Doctorate degree at Clark University in Worchester, Massachusetts; and then attended law school in the State of Florida, graduating with a Juris Doctorate. Annie was a licensed attorney in both Florida and New Jersey.
Annie began her teaching career in September of 1961 at Cathedral High School in Trenton, but most of her years of teaching were at Jackson (NJ) Memorial High School, where students often referred to her as “Sarge” due to her high academic standards and proper classroom decorum. Starting in 1967, she taught and mentored many Jackson students for over thirty years. She was also known for her sense of humor, rubber stamping in red ink “FUDGE” on student papers and quipping in her Irish brogue, “I taught you everything I know and you still know nothing.” After “retiring” from Jackson Memorial, Annie became a professor at Ocean County (NJ) College for almost a decade, and worked in the Ocean County Public Defender’s Office representing juvenile defendants. She was also a volunteer for the Island Heights Rescue Squad and a member of the Island Heights Planning Board.
Annie was a lifelong member of the New Jersey Teachers Association. She was also an advocate for women’s rights and equality in the workplace; and a lover of animals, particularly dogs and horses.
There will be a service for Annie Friday, November 1, 2019 at St. Patrick’s Church in Ballyshannon at 11 o’clock (Ireland time) that can be live streamed (7 AM Eastern US) on www.churchservices.tv. Interment will follow in the family plot at Assaroe Abbey Cemetery in Ballyshannon.
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