Obituary: Marian J. Waite, 93

Marian J. (Tingley) Waite died on Saturday, September 3 in the loving embrace of her family, just three weeks after her 93rd birthday. Born in the family home in East Greenwich, Marian was the daughter of James W. Tingley and Marie J.C. (Benson) Tingley. Marian spent the first 21 years of her life in East Greenwich, starting kindergarten in 1928 in the newly-opened James H. Eldredge School, and later graduating from East Greenwich Academy in 1941. From there she attended the Rhode Island School of Design, graduating in 1944 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Interior Design.

In 1945 Marian married William A. Waite, Jr. of Saunderstown, Navy Lieutenant (j.g.). Following their marriage, the Waites moved to Brooklyn, NY, where Lieutenant Waite was stationed. Less than two months later, at news of the Japanese surrender, the newlyweds were among the celebrants at Times Square in New York City.

The following year, back in Rhode Island, the Waites established their residence in Cranston’s Edgewood section, where their two daughters grew up. Marian delighted in being a housewife and mother, always being there for her girls, and raising them in the tradition of the gracious times in which she herself grew up.
After 60 years in Edgewood, Marian moved back to her hometown of East Greenwich, where she spent her last years close to the family home, in which her younger daughter, Laura Sullivan, and husband, Michael Sullivan, now live.

Besides her daughter and her husband, Marian is survived by step-grandsons Jeremy and Jonathan Sullivan, her brother’s son, James S. Tingley, and six nephews and nieces. In addition to her parents, Marian is pre-deceased by her former husband, William, her daughter, Carolyn Marie Waite, and her brother, James W. Tingley, Jr.

Marian’s family would like to acknowledge and thank the staff and volunteers at St. Elizabeth Home for their wonderful skilled and compassionate care over the seven and a half years Marian was a resident there.
A Requiem Eucharist will be held at 11 AM on Saturday, September 10 at St. Luke’s Church in East Greenwich. Burial will follow in East Greenwich Cemetery. Visiting hours will be at Hill Funeral Home, 822 Main Street, East Greenwich, on Friday, September 9 from 4 to 7 PM.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Luke’s Church, 99 Peirce St., East Greenwich, or to St. Elizabeth Home, 1 St. Elizabeth Way, East Greenwich.