Alice D. Foley

Alice D. Foley, loving mother, grandmother, great grandmother, educator, master gardener and homemaker, age 103 years, of Bridgewater, NJ, died on Monday, October 18, 2010 at Arbor Glen, Bridgewater, NJ.

Born in Ringoes, NJ, January 26, 1907, daughter of the late E. Carleton and Leona Snook Durham, she had resided in the Ringoes area over ninety years, having lived for the past thirteen years in the Arbor Glen Retirement Community.

A 1924 graduate of Flemington High School, Flemington, NJ, Mrs. Foley went on to graduate from The Trenton Normal School (The College of New Jersey) in 1926.

At the age of nineteen, she began her teaching career in a one-room country school where she instructed all eight grades. At five foot one inches tall, she was dwarfed by some of her older students. In addition to teaching, she was also required to perform janitorial services as well. Her father bought her a 1926 Model T Ford so that she could get to her first job but, first, she had to learn how to drive. A friend volunteered to give her lessons in a nearby cornfield. She retired from her teaching career in 1973, having taught a total of thirty-six years.

Mrs. Foley was an avid gardener and preserved the fruits of her labors at the end of each summer before returning to the classroom. She could always be found solving crossword puzzles in her leisure time and as small as she was in stature, she never lost her spunk nor her spark.

Her husband, David B. Foley, with whom she join hands in marriage in 1928, died in 1986. Additionally her son, David B. Foley, Jr., died in 1966 and a brother, Carl Durham, died earlier.

Surviving are her daughter and son-in-law, Shirley and Gino Lombardo of Bedminster, NJ; two grandchildren, Lisa and her husband Christopher Claus of Hillsborough, NJ and David B. Foley III of Flemington, NJ; and three great grandsons, Kieran, Loughlin and Cameron Claus, all of Hillsborough, NJ.

Funeral Services will take place Saturday, October 30, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. in the Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main Street, Flemington, NJ. Interment will follow in Prospect Hill Cemetery, Capner Street, Flemington, NJ. Calling hours will be Friday, October 29, 2010 from 2:00-4:00 and 7:00-9:00 p.m. in the Funeral Home. Please visit www.holcombefisher.com for further information or to send condolences.

Memorial contributions may be made to Susan G. Kolmen for the Cure, P. O. Box 650309, Dallas, TX 75265-0309.