Mary Ann "Skip" Winters

STERLING/HOLDEN: Mary Ann “Skip” Winters, 91, passed away peacefully surrounded by her loving family on Friday, June 17, 2022 at the UMass Memorial Medical Center-University Campus after a brief illness.

Born in Altoona, PA and raised in Mauch Chunk, PA, she was the daughter of the late Oscar and Cathleen (Wilson) Anderson.

Not long after graduating from high school, Skip’s passion for caring for others led her to pursue a nursing degree at Jefferson Medical College Hospital School of Nursing in Philadelphia, PA. After graduating from Jefferson she worked at the Shriners Hospital in North East Philly until she was approached by Dr Robert Wise, head of the Bacteriology Department at Jefferson Medical school to work on his Epidemiology Team. This team was the first to study hospital acquired infections. After working many years in the medical field, Skip earned a degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner in one of the first Nurse Practitioner programs in the U.S.

To be closer to family and friends, she moved to MA in 1969 and took a job at Hahnemann Hospital in Worcester. She soon thereafter became the Director of Nursing at Holden Nursing Home. Skip worked closely with Eugene Oriol. They were a formidable team, the pillar of healthcare delivery. Skip was instrumental in the creation of Oriol Health Care, including the opening of the respiratory care unit at Wachusett Extended Care and the acquisition of properties, such as Oakdale Nursing home in West Boylston. She continued to serve on the Board of Directors of Oriol Health Care. Her focus was always on quality-of-life care, and she traveled to countries such as Africa and the UK with Eldercare to study how other cultures embraced their elderly. She played a key role in bringing hospice care to our country by working with Legislators in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. After 46 years Skip retired from nursing but continued to work in Oriol’s billing and data entry departments.

For fun, Skip worked at The Quilted Crow in Bolton, MA from 2005-2021, retiring on her 90th birthday. Skip shared her passion for quilting, embroidery, needlework, and wool appliqué with her students at The Quilted Crow and at her Busy Hands Retreat in Freeport, Maine. Her knowledge of stitching and her endless patience made her a beloved teacher by all who were lucky enough to have taken her classes.

Skip was an active member of the Outdoor Sports Club, joining in 2004 and serving as club president from 2012-2014 and was presently serving as treasurer. For the past 20 years Skip wintered in Whittier, CA with close family. She is a member of Whittier Presbyterian Church.

She will be missed and lovingly remembered by her son, Louis Waddell and his wife, Ellen of Holden; her daughter, Martha Della Scala of Hana Maui, HI and Sterling; five grandchildren, Jennifer, Jonathan and Melissa Waddell and Justin and Jaimie Savell; many great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

In addition to her husband, O.Francis Winters, and her parents, she is predeceased by her sister, Betty Jane Crago.

Relatives and friends are invited to gather with her family from 4 to 7 p.m. on Saturday June 25, in the Miles Funeral Home, 1158 Main Street, Holden. A funeral service will be held on Sunday June 26, at 10 a.m. in the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, the family is respectfully asking that you make donations to one of Skip’s favorite charities - Quinsigamond Community College Foundation Nursing Class of 2022, 670 West Boylston Street, Worcester, MA 01606 or Spirit Awakening Foundation, Post Office Box 11643, Marina Del Rey, CA 90295

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