MULDOON, Virginia Ann (Gleason) - Virginia Ann “Nancy” Muldoon, a longtime resident of Andover, MA, and most recently, Arlington, passed away on May 12, 2020, at the age of 86. She is survived by her beloved children; son, Arthur F. Muldoon, Jr. and his wife, Peyton, of New York, NY, and daughter, Emily Muldoon Kathan and her husband, Scott, of Arlington, MA, and four grandchildren; Gus, Ainsley, Oona, and Arden, who gave her much joy. She also leaves several cherished nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her loving husband, Arthur F. Muldoon, her sister, Janet Gleason Higgins, and brother, Louis E. Gleason Jr.
Born on April 4, 1934 to the late Teresa and Louis Gleason, she grew up in Andover, MA. She attended Abbott Academy and Notre Dame Academy, Tyngsboro. She graduated from Trinity College, Washington, DC, in 1955, and earned her Master of Education from Salem State.
Nancy taught junior high school English at the Punchard School in Andover for a number of years before marrying and becoming a homemaker and prolific community volunteer.
A dedicated mom, she logged many hours riverside watching her son’s crew races, and many more shivering in ice rinks cheering on her daughter’s hockey games. After her husband, Arthur’s untimely death in 1984, she ran his chemical engineering business for a few years before returning to volunteering.
A lifelong learner, she delighted in many volunteer roles that enhanced her knowledge and connection to her to her community. She was involved with the Andona Society, supporting Andover youth, the Andover Historical Society, and the Bread and Roses Soup Kitchen. She was also a member of the Lawrence General Hospital Auxiliary Committee where she managed the gift shop, and was a member of the Friends of the Memorial Hall Library, Andover, where she worked with English language learners. A parishioner at St. Augustine’s Church, Nancy also served as a eucharistic minister, bringing communion to nursing home residents.
Nancy also had a lifelong passion for art and painting. She loved to oil paint, particularly seascapes, and enjoyed many annual Fall painting trips along the North Shore, MA, and Ogunquit, ME. She also particularly enjoyed volunteering as a docent at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, as a member of the museum’s Associates Committee, where she gave museum tours, led outside architectural walking tours of Boston, and catalogued artifacts in the Egyptian and Asiatic Art departments.
After returning to the workforce for an eight-year stint at the Institute for Recruitment of Teachers, an outreach program of Phillips Academy dedicated to increasing the number of minority teachers in classrooms, she again returned to volunteering at The Stevens-Coolidge Place, a Trustees of Reservations property in North Andover, MA.
She loved to travel but was perhaps most happy spending several weeks each summer with her family on Lake Wentworth in Wolfeboro, NH.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in her memory to the Wentworth Watershed Association, PO Box 2235, Wolfeboro, NH 03894. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Burke-Magliozzi Funeral Home of Andover. For additional information, please visit, www.burkemagliozzi.com.