Mary Eunice Gorman Manetti died on February 11, 2019, after an extended illness. She loved her husband, family, God, her country, justice, and beauty in all its forms. Born in Boston, MA on April 29, 1932, she was the youngest child of David and Kathleen (Kitty) Gorman. A Magna Cum Laude graduate of Emanuel College 1953, and Cum Laude graduate of Harvard Law School 1956, she was in the third class of women to attend Harvard Law and one of twenty women in a class of five-hundred.
While at Harvard, Mary Eunice met and married Renald A. Manetti to whom she was wed for nearly sixty years until his death in June of 2015. Post-graduation, she worked as a trust attorney in New York City before following her husband when Renald (Ren) entered the United States Army in 1956. Between 1957 and 1969 she worked part-time as a college professor while raising six children. Mary Eunice and Ren settled in Sleepy Hollow, NY in 1969 and resided there for forty-five years.
Returning to full-time law in 1973, Mary Eunice worked as corporate attorney for Ciba-Geigy, and Union Carbide, retiring as senior counsel at Praxair. As an attorney, she specialized in chemical safety and environmental regulations, travelling throughout the continental U.S. and Europe.
A challenger of the status quo, she was a staunch advocate for the advancement of women and minorities. As a young woman, she was a campaign volunteer for the election of Senator John F Kennedy, and later an activist for his presidency. Throughout her career, she pressed for the recognition of women and equitable pay.
After retirement, Mary Eunice and Ren continued to travel including visits to the Greek Isles, China, Europe, and the United Kingdom. She enjoyed the beaches of Cape Cod where she grew up and her second home in Kennebunk, Maine. She loved to spend time with her family, shop for sales, read books, and watch the sunset. She would recite Homer and Shakespeare at the dinner table and enjoyed a great episode of “Jeopardy.” A devout Roman Catholic, Mary Eunice celebrated the holidays with joy, spiritual insight, and elegance. A life-long devotee of the arts, patronizing opera, ballet, and musical theater, she passed her appreciation of beauty on to her children and grandchildren.
Mary Eunice is mourned by her son Renald Jr. (Vanessa) of Quartz Hill, CA; her daughter Ellen (Michael Courts) of Portland, ME; her son Paul (Maureen) of Freeport, ME; her daughter Mary of Ossining, NY; her daughter Maggie of Hastings, NY; and her daughter Carolyn (Paul Broucek) of Los Angeles, CA; her grandchildren, Sarah, Timothy, Joshua, Emily, Jenny, Michael, Christopher and Jason; and her sister Carol (Donald McA’Nulty) her brother David, many nieces and nephews, and extended family.
A woman of conviction and brilliance, she took the road less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.
A funeral mass will be held at Transfiguration Church in Tarrytown, NY on April 27, 2019, at 10:30am, immediately followed by interment at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.
For those who wish, donations may be made in Mary’s name to The Carmelite Friars, 88 Carmelite Drive, Middletown, NY 10940.
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