Marilyn J. Kavanagh

Marilyn J. Kavanagh, 70, a longtime resident of Woodstock, died Sunday Nov. 16, 2014 at the Golden Hill Health Care Center in Kingston. Born in Plainfield, NJ, she was the youngest daughter of the late James Edmund and Elva Rockefeller Ryan. Marilyn was a graduate of Merrimack College and later taught English and Creative Writing at the Valley Stream Central High School and the Ulster County Community College. In 1969, she was instrumental in the successful implementation of a program in the US Army called "McNamara's 100, 000" which was designed to provide fundamental reading skills to young men inducted into the armed forces. She ended her professional career as a Vocational Evaluator for Gateway Community Industries and throughout her life participated in numerous not-for-profit activities and was a member of the Junior League of Kingston and the Board of Directors of the Ulster County Performing Arts Center. Marilyn is survived by her husband of 46 years, retired Supreme Court Justice E. Michael Kavanagh, a son Michael J. Kavanagh and his wife Jennifer of Saugerties and a daughter Jean Megan Day and her husband Michael of Stoneham, MA. She is also survived by a sister Elva Darden and her Husband Julius of Thousand Oaks, CA., two brothers, Richard who resides in Auburn, CA. with his wife Ruth and James of Sea Cliff, NY. Five grandchildren, Connor, Ryan, Finnegan, Regan and Aislin also survive. The family will receive friends at the Simpson-Gaus Funeral Home, 411 Albany Ave on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 from 4 - 8 PM. The funeral procession will form on Wednesday from the funeral home at 8:45AM. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. John's RC Church in West Hurley at 10:00AM. Interment will be private. The family requests that memorial donations be made to the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America, 706 Haddonfield Road, Cherry Hill, NJ. 08002.