Rosemary Boyle McKinney

Rosemary Boyle McKinney of Naples, Florida died on Sunday,January 6, 2019 at The Marbella at Pelican Bay. She lived to be101 years old.Born in 1917 to John D. Boyle and Juanita Kirby Jessup Boyle in Mt. Vernon, New York, Rosemary was the oldest of her sisters,Nancy and Faith. She grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut where she attended Rosemary Hall and in 1940 she graduated with distinction from the University of Connecticut where she majored in English. It was at UConn where she met her husband, Walter B. McKinney, whom she married in 1942.During the war years while Walter was serving overseas in the 8th Air Force, Rosemary lived in New York City where she workedfor D’Arcy Advertising writing scripts for the popular radio show,Spotlight Bands, sponsored by Coca-Cola. It was in this capacity that she met and wrote scripts for Ronald Reagan and Jack Bennyamong many others.After the war, Rosemary and Walter lived in various cities throughout the Northeast, including New York, Baltimore,Pittsburgh and West Hartford, CT. In Baltimore she gave birth to her daughter, Nancy. The family later traveled to Europe where Walter established an international presence for his company.During the ensuing four years they became exposed to many new customs and languages as they moved from France to Sweden to Italy and then to London, England, where she gave birth to her son,John. In 1955 she returned with her family to Connecticut, taking up  residence in West Hartford where she lived for almost twenty  years. In addition to being a caring mother, Rosemary was alsoactive in the League of Women Voters and later worked as the communications director for the Community Renewal Team, an anti-poverty agency in Hartford, and then as an executive assistant to Igor Sikorski of Sikorski Aircraft. Throughout this time Rosemary was an active member of a writers group, a bridge groupand was an avid golfer and boater.In the late 1970’s, Rosemary put her vast experience in buying and selling homes to use as a licensed realtor, primarily in the town of Stonington, CT where she and Walter had summered since the late 1960’s. When Walter retired in 1982 they moved there permanently. A short time later they began spending their winters in Florida, first residing in Marco Island for several years before moving to Naples. After Walter’s passing in 2007, Rosemary left her summer home in Stonington and moved to neighboring Mystic, CT, before finally moving permanently to Naples year round. Rosemary is survived by her sister, Faith; her daughter, Nancy Crosland and her husband Phil; her son, John; granddaughter, Brooke Stewart and her husband George; grandsons, Cory Crosland and Brodey Crosland and his wife Molly; great  grandsons, Henry Stewart, Ryland Stewart and Charley Crosland;and great granddaughter, Lucy Crosland. Graveside Services will be held Friday 11 AM at the Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York.

Memorial donations in honor of Rosemary may be made to either

American Cancer Society

https://www.cancer.org/involved/donate.html

Or TeachForAmerica.org.

https://www.teachforamerica.org/support-us/give

Hawthorne Funeral Home

21 W. Stevens Avenue

Hawthorne, New York 10532

914-769-4404