[BSW] Passing of long time member Mary Rainey

[KATHY BILTON]

I recently learned that long time BSW member, Mary Rainey, died last 
October.  Her husband, Sam, was the BSW president in 1994. Copied below is 
her obituary from the Post.

MARY RITTENHOUSE PHILLIPS RAINEY (Age 89)

Passed away peacefully on October 27, 2018. Predeceased by her husband of 
50 years, Samuel C. Rainey (a nuclear physicist), three of her children, a 
brother, and a sister. She is survived by her 10 remaining children, 23 
grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, a brother and sister-in-law, two 
sisters, and many other members of her extended family, to whom she was 
deeply devoted. The daughter of Col. Donald B. Phillips, a leading 
aviation pioneer and a senior commanding officer for the Army Air Corps 
during and after World War II. A direct descendant of Thomas Nelson Jr., a 
Signer of the Declaration of Independence, she was an essential pillar of 
a historic Virginia family.

With degrees from Immaculata College and New York University, she had deep 
interests in the sciences, theology, and linguistics. Her gift for 
languages led her to join the U.S. Government in the 1950s, as a Russian 
code-breaker. She later taught at Howard University and consulted as a 
highly skilled writer and technical editor. Her gifts also included the 
arts: she was a skilled pianist, singer, and artist. She was also an 
ardent Shakespearian.

Mary was a devout Catholic, a member of the Secular Order of Discalced 
Carmelites, and an avid doctrinal scholar. A parishioner of St Jane 
Frances de Chantal for 47 years, she felt honored to serve as a frequent 
lector, as a member of the choir, and in many other parish activities.
For her kindness, her great generosity, her service to anyone in need, and 
her fervent advocacy for social justice, Mary was dearly loved. There will 
be a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Jane Frances de Chantal, 9601 Old 
Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD on Friday, November 2 at 10:45 a.m, followed 
by an informal gathering in the Meeting Room to celebrate her life.

Published in The Washington Post on Oct. 30, 2018

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?n=mary-rittenhouse-phillips-rainey&pid=190604781