Miriam Hagedorn WHITNEY

Miriam Hagedorn WHITNEY, born in Philadelphia, PA, on October 10, 1922, died Sunday, September 1, 2013 in Williamsport Hospital, Williamsport, PA. Her husband, The Rev. Dr. John Raymond Whitney, who died on March 2, 2006, wrote this obituary. Also predeceasing her were her parents, Dr. Hervey M. Hagedorn, a physician, and Helen K. Hagedorn, a nurse, as well as an older sister, Betty. A younger brother, Richard, died as a small child when struck by an automobile driven by an intoxicated driver. Mrs. Whitney, during her lifetime, acquired the Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from Mansfield University. Prior to that she attended elementary and high school in Westfield, PA, where she lived, leaving there as a Junior to study for three years at Wheelock College in Boston. Subsequently she extended her academic career with study at Boston University and earned a Master's Degree in Elementary Education at the Pennsylvania State University at State College. She taught professionally for eighteen years sequentially in Westfield, PA, Ulysses, PA, Alexandria, VA, and State College, PA. In State College she participated as an instructor-teacher in the early development of cluster education for elementary students. Regardless of the excellence of her professional career, she knew herself best as the wife of her husband John, mother of her son Dick, grandmother of her granddaughter Erin (Joshua) Swann, and great-grandmother of her great-grandchildren Sophia, Lilly, and Ryder. Married April 10, 1943 in St. Martin's Church, Providence, RI during World War II, she wrote to her overseas husband every day for two and a half years. She knew the financial sacrifices and social tensions of living as a clergy wife from 1953 until her death. She was an excellent cook and baker, excelling as well in the arts of knitting, rug braiding and quilting. Suffice it to say that she worked at a professional level of excellence both at home, in the parish, and in the schoolroom. In her later years she became an inveterate letter writer, knitting together in her correspondence a cordial network of on-going friendships. Leaving formal theology largely to her husband, she was a life-long participant in the parish life she knew in the Episcopal Church, including a deep personal commitment to Christ and the Christian life. A Memorial Service will be held 11:00 AM, Saturday, September 7, 2013 in All Saints Episcopal Church, Brookland, PA. The Rev. Janis Yskamp and the Rev. Gregory P. Hinton will preside. Burial will be in All Saints Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to: St. John's Episcopal Church, Westfield, PA 16950 or All Saints Episcopal Church, Ulysses, PA 16948. Arrangements are entrusted to the Olney Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Ulysses, PA. Online condolences may be expressed at www.olneyfuneralhome.com.