Founding Finley Faculty Member Passes Away
Retired J. Taylor Finley Junior High School guidance counselor Anne P. Royce passed away on October 5. She was just two weeks shy of her 86th birthday.
Mrs. Royce began working in the Huntington School District in September 1952 as a substitute teacher at Robert L. Simpson High School and later at Huntington High School when that building opened in November 1958. She went to work full-time in September 1959 as a high school chemistry teacher and went on to teach math and serve as a guidance counselor at R.L. Simpson Junior High School, which opened at the site of the former high school (now town hall).
In September 1965, Mrs. Royce was among the original faculty members to open the brand new J. Taylor Finley Junior High School. At Finley she taught math through June 1970 and then worked as a guidance counselor until her retirement at the end of the school year in June 1985.
Mrs. Royce earned BA (1948) and MA (1949) degrees in science and guidance at the New York State College for Teachers in Albany.
Born October 20, 1926, Mrs. Royce was married to her husband, Stuart for 62 years. She also leaves behind daughters Kathleen and Barbara and son David and five grandchildren.
Mrs. Royce was known "to put her whole family above every - and anything - else," said Barbara A. Royce. "She always made sure that her husband and her three children were taken care of before doing anything for herself. She was a role model, a leader, a teacher and she treated everyone with dignity and respect. She may have been a tiny woman, but she had a lot of spirit and spunk as well as a heart of gold. No matter how small her shoes were, no one could ever come close to filling them. She will be forever missed but our many happy memories of her will never fade."
Visitation was held at M.A. Connell Funeral Home in Huntington Station. A funeral mass was held at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Centerport. The family asks that friends consider making a contribution in Mrs. Royce's name to the Guide Dog Foundation in Smithtown.