Legendary URI Faculty Member Dr. Agnes G. Doody Dies at 93
Wednesday, May 03, 2023
Dr. Agnes G. Doody passed away on April 28, 2023, in Wakefield, RI at the age of 93. The widow of Ellis H. Maris, Jr., and Dr. Arthur D. Jeffrey. She is preceded in death by her parents, Carrie and Daniel Doody, her brother Dan Doody, sister Miriam Bradley, and stepdaughter Jill Rodriquez. She is survived by her stepson, Andrew Jeffrey, four grandchildren, David, Becky, Meg, and Will and six great-grandchildren, her extended families of Dr. Heidi Kummer and Dr. Karl Breuing, Michael and Nancy Stricklin, and Doug and Linda Rubinstein.
Dr. Doody was a towering figure at the University of Rhode Island; teaching for 45 years and culminating with the naming of the Agnes G. Doody Auditorium located in Swan Hall on URI’s campus. From 1958 to 2003, few at the University were not touched by her guidance, leadership, or purple pen. Her list of accolades reflects the very nature of her gifts as a communicator, mentor, and educator.
She received Teaching Excellence Awards, Women’s Excellence Awards, and Dr. Doody was listed in the Who’s Who for Woman in Rhode Island. Highlights of her civic responsibilities included co-chairing bank boards, Wakefield Rotary (an organization especially close to her heart because of her many friends there), trustee of the URI Foundation, and President of Rhode Island Mediation Services.
She was a crack shot with a rifle or camera. Known as a cyclist (even in high heels), swimmer, and an avid traveler, visiting more than seventy countries on six different continents. Among the most memorable trips abroad were an African Safari and train ride on the Orient Express. She loved her garden, hated groundhogs, supported the arts, and entertained friends, family, and colleagues on a grand scale at her legendary home, One Post Road, in her beloved town of Wakefield, Rhode Island.
A celebration of her life will be held on July 28, 2023, at 9:30am in the Agnes G. Doody Auditorium of Swan Hall on the URI campus.
Gifts in her memory through the Agnes G. Doody Scholarship Fund can be made to the URI Foundation, PO Box 1700, Kingston, RI 02881, with a note in the memo line, or donors can make a secure gift online with the link below.
