Mary Frances (Maffei Gulliver) Blynn, 86, died peacefully in Stamford, CT, on December 31. A twenty-year resident of Vero Beach, FL, she previously lived in Greenwich, CT, for nearly fifty years. Mary Frances survived her three husbands, Rudolph P. Maffei and Allan D. Gulliver, of Riverside, CT, and Bryce Blynn, Jr., of Riverside and Vero Beach. Singularly vibrant and relentlessly positive, she lived with gusto and determination. She had a special gift for friendship, and all who came in contact with her felt her warmth and outsize love of life. Born in Brooklyn in 1926 to Louis and Grace (Hartung) Maresca, Mary Frances graduated from Fontbonne Hall, in Bay Ridge, and Notre Dame College of Staten Island. Mary Frances worked in magazines and fashion after college; over the decades, she worked as a volunteer for many community organizations in Greenwich, including the Junior Women’s Club and the Red Cross. She was an avid tennis player and golfer and was a longtime member of the Riverside Yacht Club and the Greenwich Country Club, and, in Vero Beach, the Moorings Club and Hawk’s Nest Golf Club. Mary Frances delighted in being the matriarch of her large merged family and was its spirited, resilient center. She is survived by seven children and stepchildren, Lynne Gulliver Erkkinen, of Yarmouth, ME; Pamela Maffei McCarthy, of Brooklyn, NY; Allan D. Gulliver, Jr., of Acton, MA; Mary Frances (Miffy) Maffei, of Los Angeles, CA; Susan Maffei Plowden, of Jamestown, RI; Susan Gulliver Carlson, of Riverside; and David Gulliver, of Epping, NH. She is also survived by her sons-in-law, John Erkkinen, Joseph McCarthy, John Plowden, and Peter Carlson, and a daughter-in-law, Jennifer Gulliver; eleven grandchildren, Michael and Anne Erkkinen, Teydin Erkkinen Romanowsky, Winston and Elizabeth McCarthy, Mairin and Christopher Gulliver, Scott, Porter, and Kellen Carlson, and William Gulliver; and one great-grandchild, Aleksi Romanowsky. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Greenwich Point Conservancy (greenwichpoint.org) or Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities (ecad1.org). A memorial service will be held on Friday, January 11, at noon, at St. Agnes Church, 247 Stanwich Rd., Greenwich, CT. A memorial in Vero Beach will be held at a later date. Condolences may be offered at http://www.leopgallaghergreenwich.com/
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