ALICE L. TUMULTY (Age 96)
Homemaker and former employee of the United States Supreme Court, died on November 14, 2015. Mrs. Tumulty was a resident of Silver Spring,MD. She was born in Shamokin, Pennsylvania but grew up in Washington, DC. Mrs. Tumulty studied Biology at Dunbarton College and took writing courses at Georgetown University. She was a charter member of St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church, Silver Spring, Md. where she was active in the Sodality and the Altar Society. Mrs. Tumulty was renowned amongst her family for her storied picnics and dinners and her meticulous housekeeping. She was an avid letter and note writer even into her ninth decade. Known for her snowy white hair, her gentle ways, her sand dollar collection, her furniture refinishing projects and her indoor gardening expertise, her pursuits were always of the creative sort. Mrs. Tumulty was a prolific amateur photographer and kept dozens of scrapbooks and photo albums containing a life’s work of family archives and genealogy. An avid newspaper reader, she never let a day go by without reading The Washington Post from cover to cover. She enjoyed historical sagas and wrote a never published novel of 19th century life in the coal mining regions of Pennsylvania. In 1962 she wrote a letter to the editor of the Washington Post in which she defended First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy’s use of proper French. She was honored to have her letter published along with that, of then French Ambassador to the United States, Herve Alphand. Mrs. Tumulty was a member of the cast of the original production of Yankee Doodle Boy performed at Catholic University in 1939. She was thrilled to have met George M. Cohan on whose life the musical was based. Although most of her married family life was spent in Colesville, MD, in recent years she was a resident of Riderwood Village in Silver Spring. Mrs. Tumulty has left a gentle but indelible mark on the lives of those she leaves behind. Mrs. Tumulty was predeceased by her beloved husband of 69 years , Joseph Patrick Tumulty. She is survived by her six children, Patricia Tumulty Flaccus (David) of Freeville, NY, Mary Alice Tumulty Jost (James) of Ankeny, IA, Joseph Patrick Tumulty, Jr. (Colleen) of Thurmont, MD, Alicia Tumulty Peklo (Gary) of West Friendship, MD, Anne Tumulty Patsalosavvis (Costas) of Gainesville, VA and Thomas Paul Tumulty (Steven M. Brown) of Cary, NC. She is also survived by 13 grandchildren, Melissa Stalvey (Christopher), Jessica Costanzo (Ryan), Amanda Tumulty, Joshua Peklo (Marion), Gillian Flaccus Irving (Douglas), Joseph Patrick Tumulty III, Maria Peklo Villani (Sam), Mark Tumulty (Juliana), Daphne Patsalosavvis Quear (Michael), John Tumulty (Connie), George Patsalosavvis, Paul Tumulty and Mary Alice Patsalosavvis, as well as 11 great-grandchildren, Joanna and Mary Elena Morales, Matthew and Catherine Stalvey, Henry, Emma and Ophelia Peklo, Elise and Emma Irving, Nora Costanzo and Benjamin Quear. She is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews and grand nieces and nephews and the kind and loving care givers at Arbor Ridge and Oak Grove of Riderwood. Relatives and friends may call at Collins Funeral Home, 500 University Boulevard West, Silver Spring, MD, (Valet Parking), Thursday, November 19 from 2 to 4 p.m. and at Church of the Resurrection at Riderwood Village, 3110 Gracefield Road, Silver Spring, MD on Friday, November 20, from 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., where Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 12 p.m. Interment Gate of Heaven Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Alice Tumulty’s name to The Academy of the Holy Cross, 4920 Strathmore Avenue, Kensington, MD 20895-1299.In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Alice Tumulty’s name to The Academy of the Holy Cross, 4920 Strathmore Avenue, Kensington, MD 20895-1299.
