Death notice from the Diocese of New Jersey

Hello All!
For many years I served on the Standing Commission on Clerical Compensation (fondly known as "Clergy Comp" ) and one of the members of the committee who served with us was Ron Sheay, the husband of Canon Virgina Sheay and son-in-law of Edna Westcott.  Ron spent many years working for the state as a Forester.  His sense of humor infected our proceedings.  His wife was one the first women to be ordained in the diocese of NJ and it was Fr. Elmer "Pat" Sullivan who led the fight to ordain women in this diocese.  Many in this diocese remember him only as a curmudgeon, offering nitpicking canonical changes at diocesan convention, but in his day "Pat" was a progressive Anglo-catholic who gave his parish [he was rector of St.Luke's, Ewing] leadership in calling a woman rector: Virginia Sheay.

I never met Edna Westcott, but because of all these people: Virginia, Ron, Pat, the congregation at St. Luke's, the Clergy Comp Commission, the State Forestry folks -- they all were touched in one way or another by Edna.  Now isn't that the way God works?
 

Edna Westcott, mother of the Rev. Canon Dr. Virginia M. Sheay, died April 25

at the age of 101.