Gwendolyn Marie Farley

Gwendolyn Marie Farley died peacefully in the early morning hours of Tuesday, March 10th at Christiana Hospital after a brief illness. Her husband of 60 years, Bill, was by her side, along with her oldest son, Jeff.

Born April 12, 1948, in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Alfred and Mary McKeown, she was the youngest of four children. She grew up on the same street, attending the same parish and grammar school as her future husband. Once married, Lynn became the consummate caretaker and military wife, supporting Bill during his 28 years of active service with the Marines. She cherished her babies, stretched the family budget, kept house, and mentored many young wives in the ways of military life. She preferred the tongue-in-cheek yet fitting title of Domestic Engineer. Her hobbies included cross-stitching, often designing her own patterns, sewing, crocheting, reading, gardening, and baking. Her uncluttered daily routine, which began with a cup of tea with milk as her English Canadian mother had taught her, left room for her extensive volunteer work. Over the years she ran the religious education program at the base chapel on Camp Lejeune, helped young single mothers at Mom’s House with childcare while they pursued education, published the newsletter for the Officers’ Wives’ Club in Okinawa, Japan, and for nearly two decades ran the Prayer Line at Holy Cross in Dover. She had assisted so many young women in giving birth, at their request, that she once considered becoming a midwife. She also worked for several years in the financial and insurance industries with Chase, Citi, Nations Bank, and Aetna. Above all, she loved caring for her ten grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, creating cherished traditions such as Cookie Time.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her infant son William, her oldest brother Bud, and her sister Jerry.

She is survived by her husband Bill, her brother Ed, her children Melissa (Carlos), Jeff (Emily), Debbie (Frank), and Greg, her grandchildren Carlos, Sophie (Daniel), JP, Alex (Alma), Max, Megan, Jaki, Lizzy, Joe, and Theresa, and her great-grandchildren Jojo, Leo, Patrick, Emily, and Addie.