Nancy L. Dillon-Kinney

AMENIA — Nancy L. Dillon-Kinney, 85, died Oct. 26, 2011, at the Sharon Health Care Center. She was the devoted wife of Harold W. “Chuck” Kinney. Nancy was born Feb. 2, 1926, in Pittston, Pa., a daughter of the late Anna M. and Thomas J. Dillon and a niece to the late John J. Smith, all formerly of Lakeville. Nancy was a resident of Amenia and Lakeville for most of her life.She was a graduate of St. John’s High School in Pittston and the Misericordia School of Nursing in Philadelphia, Pa. She was a registered nurse for 46 years at Sharon Hospital, where she was head nurse for Unit 1 and the hospital’s first infection prevention control director, a position she held until her retirement in 1994. A dedicated lifelong health-care professional, she was also instrumental in coordinating volunteer activities at the hospital including the Candy Striper program. As a trained epidemiologist, Nancy was also an initiator of the hospital’s Scrubby Bear infection control program to teach schoolchildren the importance of hand washing. The program distributed teddy bears to children and featured a life-sized bear suit worn to presentations at area schools. Colleagues fondly remember Nancy for always being immaculately dressed in her white nurse’s cap and uniform. She was also a member of the Salisbury Democratic Town Committee and the Connecticut Nurses Association.Nancy leaves behind her loving husband, Harold, whom she married Feb. 27, 1967, at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Glassboro, N.J. She also leaves her sister, Mercedes Dillon Fitzmaurice Rosenfeld, of Glassboro, N.J.; her nephews, Timothy M. Fitzmaurice of Lakeville, Thomas J. Fitzmaurice of Fort Worth, Texas, and John P. Fitzmaurice of Keller, Texas, as well as grandnephews Dillon and Connor Fitzmaurice of Keller and Cameron Cole of Fort Worth. Numerous other Kinney, Mahon, Toole, Olson and Dillon family members also mourn her loss.A devout Catholic, Nancy was a parishioner of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Lakeville, where a Mass of Christian burial will be held Thursday, Nov. 3, at 11 a.m. Burial will follow at St. Mary’s Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be sent in Mrs. Kinney’s name to the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society. Arrangements are under the care of the Kenny Funeral Home in Sharon.

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