Obituary of Gilda R. (Drinkwater) Stanley

Gilda R. (Drinkwater) Stanley PEABODY – Gilda R. (Drinkwater) Stanley, 93, beloved wife of the late Paul Stanley, died peacefully on Sunday August 27, 2017 at the Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers, following an extended illness. Born in Everett, she was the daughter of the late Alexander and Rosalie (Lambiasi) Drinkwater. She lived a short time in Everett and many years of her youth in Cranston, RI where she graduated high school. After she married the family lived in New York, then most of her family life was in Peabody. Besides nurturing her large family, Mrs. Stanley was employed with General Electric in Lynn for many years before retiring 28 years ago. Gilda was a creative person who enjoyed several artistic endeavors. She was skilled drawing sketches, loved music, ballroom dancing, entertaining, and loved cooking for her family. She also loved traveling, and socializing with friends who entertained each other with a lively poker card game. She was a longtime communicant at St. John the Baptist Church in Peabody as her faith was important to her. She will be dearly missed by all she knew. She is survived by three sons and five daughters, Gilda & Robert Sullivan of Wenham, Paul & Catherine Stanley of Magnolia, Pamela Neilson of Peabody, Richard & Ann B. Stanley of Ossipee, NH, Janice & Jack Freeman of Amesbury, Kenneth Stanley of Rochester, NH, Joyce & Jay Ohanian of Salem, NH, and Deborah & Mark Ansin of Windham, ME; 18 grandchildren, and 29 great-grandchildren, and a brother Alexander Drinkwater, Jr. of RI. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to gather for a Funeral Mass of Christian Burial on Friday September 1, 2017 at 11 A.M. in St. John the Baptist Church, Peabody. A visitation will be held on Thursday from 5 – 8 P.M. in the Conway, Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home, 82 Lynn St., Peabody. Burial will be in Puritan Lawn Memorial Park, Peabody. Memorial donations may be made to the Kaplan Hospice House, c/o Care Dimensions, 75 Sylvan St., Suite B-102, Danvers, MA 01923 or to the National Kidney Foundation, 85 Astor Ave., Suite 2, Norwood, MA 02062.