Mary Gilmore Thomas, formerly of Babylon, died in Gos­hen, New York, near the home of her neph­ew,

Tom Gilmore, Oct. 10, 2009. Mary was born in August of 1921, the daughter of Edward J. Gilmore and Mary Bird Gilmore. They lived in Brooklyn, New York and spent summers in Babylon with their many cous­ins at the estate of her grandfather, William Guy Gilmore. “The Farm” as it was known by members of the Gilmore Family, which in its day spanned a distance from the LIRR tracks to the shore of the Great South Bay, is the current site of the South Bay Shopping Center on Montauk Highway in West Babylon. Mary attended Wellesley College, graduating in 1943 with a degree in History of Art and was a member of the Shakespeare Society there. She soon met and married her husband, Edwin Weeks Thomas, who predeceased her in 1989, and eventually moved to their home on Lighthouse Road in Babylon where they lived for many years. Mary and “Willie” were active members of the Babylon Yacht Club and they spent their summers following the sailing races on the Great South Bay on their Egg Harbor yacht, the Marybird, when that activity was in its heyday. Mary had many friends and was an avid bridge player as well as a dedicated volunteer at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore where she helped run the gift shop for many years. When Mary decided to leave Babylon to be closer to her nephews, due to the onset of Parkinson’s Disease, her friends lamented her decision and among them was Nancy Swan, who said recently that she tried unsuccessfully to persuade Mary to stay in Babylon and let her friends help her through the challenges of the disease. But Mary, as strong willed as ever, stuck to her decision to relocate and only returned once or twice in the intervening years prior to her recent death to the dismay of all who missed her and loved her.

Although the Thomas’s had no children of their own, they were actively engaged in the lives of their nieces and nephews and countless children of their many cousins who will remember them both with great affection and grati­tude. No memorial is scheduled.