VIRGINIA BEACH – Alice Mahannah VESELY, 88, of Virginia Beach VA, beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister and friend, passed away at home surrounded by family on February 27, 2011, after a brief illness following a brain aneurysm. She was born January 2, 1923, in Hartford CT to the late Harold Frederick and Mabel Olive Smout Mahannah. She was predeceased by her husband, William J. Vesely, and by her brothers, Ray W. and Harold Mahannah.

She is survived by five children, four of whom received law degrees and one of whom is a neonatal intensive care nurse: Marie Vesely and husband Mike Hoover of Virginia Beach VA, Susan Bates and husband Lee of Chesapeake VA, William J. Vesely Jr. and wife Betsy Camp of Atlanta GA, Robert Vesely of Mizata, El Salvador, and Patricia Vesely of Washington D.C.; as well as 11 grandchildren: Christopher Hoover M.D., Patrick Hoover Jessica, Jennifer, Jon and Bill Ceaser Kim, Eric, Darren and Lynsey Bates, Benjamin Laura, Alicia and Will Vesely, Sydney Kilgus Vesely, and Dary, Thomas and Kerry Merckens; and three great-grandchildren: Mari and Merrick Hoover and Brett Ceaser; her brother, Oliver Mahannah of Thousand Oaks CA; sisters-in-law Eileen Mahannah of Grants Pass OR, and Julia Borchers of New Hyde Park NY; her companion, Richard Andersen of Virginia Beach VA; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Alice served in the US Navy in 1943 until her honorable discharge in 1944, and was based at NAS Lakehurst NJ as an Aerographer’s Mate. There she met her future husband Bill, also a Navy aerographer and they married in 1944. After attending college at Colgate and Bill’s graduation from Yale Law School in 1951, the family moved to Cleveland OH, where they remained for 25 years. Alice completed her college studies at UMass Boston and received her BA degree from there in 1979. In 2003 she became a resident of Atlantic Shores, an active adult retirement community in Virginia Beach. She especially loved entertaining with her extended family at her beach home on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Alice was a wise, wonderful, fun-loving, active woman and a loyal friend to all who knew her. She also will be remembered as a caring, compassionate and generous person. Among her many interests she was active in a variety of charitable causes, particularly those that benefited children, youth and families. She worked and volunteered with mentally ill adults and children, affordable housing, hospitals, Girls Clubs, CASA and food banks in Cleveland OH, Gainesville FL, Boston MA and in Williamsburg and Virginia Beach VA. Alice also was active in Democratic politics in Cleveland and Gainesville. We shall deeply miss her warm and loving presence among us.

The family will host a memorial reception for her relatives and close friends at 1 pm on April 1, 2011, in the Main Dining Room at Atlantic Shores. Remembrances may be sent to the family at alicevesely@gmail.com. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to the Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Virginia, 3415 Azalea Garden Rd., Norfolk VA 23513 tel. 757-853-5632. Online condolences may be expressed at www.cremate.org.