Nancy Jean O'Hara

Nancy Jean Howard O'Hara WOODSTOCK - Nancy Jean Howard O'Hara of Woodstock, died on Wednesday, Jan. 5th, 2011 at Ten Broek Commons in Lake Katrine, after a long illness. Nancy was born in Hudson on Sept. 25 1938, the daughter of Edith Roberts and F. Lloyd Howard. The Valedictorian of her high school class, she lived in Hudson until she left to study at Skidmore College, where she earned her bachelor's degree in Political Science. After college she married Almerin O'Hara, Jr. Together they had three children, and lived in Woodstock. Probably nothing mattered more to her than people and her community. She was a member of St. Gregory's Episcopal Church; of the Woodstock Garden Club and of the Woodstock Senior Citizens' Club. Devoted to bettering the lives of others, she often volunteered her time in soup kitchens and other community organizations. In the 1970s, she began to work at the Ulster County Jail and was among Ulster County's first female deputies. As a county employee and as a member of the AFSCME union, she strove for gender equality and as a deputy, she was instrumental helping the Sheriff's Department develop protocols for responding compassionately and protectively to violence against women. She later became the Director of Rehabilitation at the jail, a position she held for nearly twenty years. Inmates there knew her as a firm but compassionate woman who took both pride and joy in helping them turn their lives around. Because of the love that guided her work, the inmates often called her "Mother Nancy." Nancy was an avid reader and a lifelong learner. She was never to be found without a book, and the New York Times crossword puzzle was a lifelong staple of her intellectual diet. Her love of travel took her on multiple trips to Europe, India, and China. She enjoyed the theater and ballet, the beauty of figure-skating and tennis, the pomp of the Macy's Christmas parade and the Rose Bowl parade. She loved her garden for its fresh vegetables as much as for the hostas and daffodils. She waged a yearly contest with the local deer to determine which of them loved the flowers more. She loved the early crocuses, and it delighted her to see her home graced with fuschias, pine boughs, and amaryllises. She is survived and deeply missed by her son, Jeffrey O'Hara, of New Orleans, La.; her daughter and son-in-law, Susan and Charlie Donahue, of Coconut Creek, Fla.; her son and daughter-in-law, David and Christina O'Hara, of Sioux Falls, S.D. and her five grandchildren, Nicholas and Jack Donahue, Anastasia, Michael and Matthew O'Hara. A Memorial Service will be held at St. Gregory's Episcopal Church, Woodstock on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 11 a.m., followed by a burial service at Cedar Park Cemetery in Hudson at 2 p.m. Arrangements are being handled by Bates Anderson Funeral Home in Hudson. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial gifts be given to St. Gregory's Horticultural Therapy Garden.