Elizabeth Joan (Zavage) Quintana
Elizabeth Joan (Zavage) Quintana, of Carmichaels, died December 25, 2017, following a brief illness.
She was born October 28, 1941 and raised on a farm in Smithfield (Old Frame).
She is preceded in death by her husband, Joseph Quintana; her mother, Genevieve (Ryczek) Zavage; her father, John Zavage and a brother, Martin Zavage, who died in infancy.
Betty, as she is known to her friends and family, graduated from Masontown High School in 1959 where she was a cheerleader and active member of student council. To earn spending money in high school Betty, her friends, and cousins worked in the tobacco camps of Virginia. From there, her fondness for the outdoors and ‘roughing it’ lead her to be a Girl Scout camp leader and naturalist at Camp Wesco in Stahlstown.
The first person in her family and the first girl in her town to attend college, Betty earned a bachelor’s degree in biology with honors from Clarion State College in 1963. After 30 years of service teaching science in the Albert Gallatin School district and raising a family, Betty returned to her inextinguishable roots by keeping a small dairy goat farm in Blacksville, West Virginia. Her love of local history compelled her to be an active member of the Fort Mason Historical Society, Browns Run Trail committee, Warrior Trail Association, and perennial festival participant at the Mason Dixon Park. A nature enthusiast and expert on local flora, Betty’s dear friends, family, children, and grandchildren will sadly miss long walks and talks in the woods with her.
She is survived by two brothers, John Zavage of Pittsburgh and Gerald Zavage of Laurel, Maryland; many beloved nieces, nephews, and cousins, and her four devoted children and their families, Arjay and Janna Franczyk and their three children Paige, Stone, and Chase of Waipahu, Hawaii, Lurea Joan (Franczyk) Doody and Robert Hendricks Doody, Jr. and their son Aengus jon Doody of Waynesburg, Sundeigh Helen (Franczyk) Plesko and Chad Plesko and their three children Hunter, Scout and River of Waynesburg and Andre and Joy Quintana and their son Oliver of Morgantown, West Virginia.
In accordance with her final wishes, a public Catholic burial service will be held at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery on Dec. 30th, at 9 a.m., with a brunch immediately following. Milliken and Throckmorton Funeral Home, Inc., Daryl L. Throckmorton, Owner/Director, 197 North Maiden St., Waynesburg, is in charge of arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, donations should be made in her name to the Humane Society of Greene County and the Greene County 4H Dairy Goat Club.
Information is on line at www.milliken-throckmortonfh.com.