GILFORD----Mary Frost, 96 years old, of Gilford, NH, died peacefully at home on Monday, October 25, 2021, with her family who loved her enormously.
Born in Akron, OH, on February 1, 1925, to Marie (Hallisey) Fahey and Martin Fahey, Mary was raised in Nashua, NH, the oldest and longest surviving of four children, who also included, MilAnn, Lois, and Jerry. She was married to Donald Frost of Hollis, NH, for 74 years and is survived by him. They met when she was 15, and he was 17, and have loved each other ever since.
She graduated from Newton-Wellesley Hospital in MA as a Registered Nurse, became a member of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps, and married Don in 1947, following him as a Navy wife wherever he was stationed. One of the favorite spots they were stationed, often fondly remembered, was Trinidad in 1949.
Mary was adventurous, intellectually curious, generous, and above all, kind.
After many moves around the country, (She’d count, a question in her voice: “23? 27?”) She and Don chose to settle in Gilford, where she lived for 63 years, moving there with Don and their three children from Connecticut in 1958.
She loved being a nurse and worked in public health in Bayonne, NJ, in her earlier years, following the lead of her own mother who was a World War I nurse. Mary ran the office of Laconia surgeon William Gage for many years. Later, she was in charge of the Laconia Hospital Emergency Room, Director of the Foster Grandparent Program in Laconia, Director of Adolescents and Children Unit at New Hampshire Hospital in Concord and traveled the state as a nurse consultant on Community Living with the N.H. Division of Public Health.
She also found time in the 1970s to enroll at the University of NH and graduate with the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master of Science in Nursing, focusing on developmental disabilities. She never ceased to be a healthcare advocate nor to fight for the rights of people to die at home.
She was an observant and experienced diagnostician and always willing and available to help neighborhood families with treatment of illnesses, ailments, and injuries.
She and Don loved being with family, entertaining friends, boating, and traveling. She loved people and always tried to help others. She loved New Hampshire, the Lakes Region, and Gilford, initiated and chaired many organizations to help others, such as the Belknap County Area Committee on Aging. She was a decades-long lector at Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church, formerly in Lakeport, and a long-time active member of the Gilford Historical Society, for many years acting as docent at the Gilford Grange every Gilford Old Home Day.
She is survived by her husband Donald; their three children, Nancy Frost of Gilford, Susan Phelps, and David Frost of Dudley, MA; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Mary’s daughter Roberta pre-deceased her, as did their infant son, John Michael.
If you want to honor Mary's memory, look for someone who appears to feel awkward and out of place, and do something kind for them.
Don and Mary were active in Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church in Lakeport and later attended St. Andre Bessette. They always had a great fondness for the Gilford Community Church, 19 Potter Hill Road, Gilford, NH 03249, and that is their choice for what will be a joint memorial service on Sunday, June 23, 2024, at 11:30am, with a luncheon to follow.
Burial will be at 2:30pm, at McCoy Cemetery, in Gilford after the luncheon.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services and 603Cremations.com, 164 Pleasant St., Laconia, NH, 03246, is assisting the family with arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial, please visit www.wilkinsonbeane.com.