Rosemary B. Fagan

Newport, RI - Rosemary Bellinger Fagan, of 56 Ayrault Street, Newport, RI, passed away peacefully on Friday, November 19th.She was the wife of Peter S. Fagan. Born in New York, NY on May 27, 1940, she was the daughter of the late Edmund B. Bellinger an attorney and West Point graduate and Rose Bullard Bellinger. Her secondary school was Eden Hall, a Sacred Heart boarding school outside Philadelphia. At Manhattanville College she majored in English and earned her Masters Degree in Education at RI College. She began her teaching career in New York City at St. David s School and later taught at RI College. For many years she taught at Portsmouth Abbey School and pioneered the study skills program, as well as supporting the effort to make the school co-educational. Rosemary had a radiant personality and irresistible smile. Her presence inspired. She loved people and was membership secretary of the Top of the Hill Neighborhood Association in Newport. She was an avid tennis player and enjoyed her garden. Rosemary was an active member of St. Joseph s Parish and volunteered as a Eucharistic Minister at Newport Hospital. She was proud of her military lineage. Her grandfathers, Lt. Gen. Robert Lee Bullard and Brig. Gen. Edmund B. Bellinger served in WWI. In addition to her husband Peter of 44 years, she is survived by her brother Edmund B. Bellinger of Staten Island, NY; children, Keith Lawrence Fagan of Boulder, CO, Hilary Douglas Fagan of Providence, RI and Peter E. B. Fagan; and grandchildren, Eric, Elizabeth, Harrison, Alexis, Maxwell and Lilah.Calling hours will be held on Friday, December 17, 2010, from 5-7, in the Hambly Funeral Home, Brick House , 30 Red Cross Avenue, Newport, RI. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, December 18, 2010, at 10:00AM, in The Church of St. Gregory the Great, Portsmouth Abbey, Coreys Lane, Portsmouth. Burial will be private. Despite her illness, she was able to participate in a fundraising drive organized by her high school classmate, Martha Reeves Cole, to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Donations can be made to their website: http://pages.teamintraining.org/sfl/wdw11/mcoleq Donations in Rosemary s memory may also be made to The Haitian Project to benefit the L Ecole Louverture Cleary in Port au Prince, Haiti: http://www.haitianproject.org/donate.htm.