Dec 26, 2017

Elizabeth Joan Zavage Quintana of 902 South Branch Muddy Creek Road, Carmichaels, died Monday, December 25, 2017, following a brief illness.

She was born October 28, 1941, on a farm in Smithfield (Old Frame), where she was also raised.

Deceased are her husband, Joseph Quintana; her mother, Genevieve Ryczek Zavage; her father, John Zavage; and a brother, Martin Zavage, who died in infancy.

“Betty,” as she was known to her friends and family, was a 1959 graduate of Masontown High School, where she was a cheerleader and active member of student council. To earn spending money in high school, she, her friends and cousins worked in the tobacco camps of Virginia. From there, her fondness for the outdoors and “roughing it” lead her to be a Girl Scout camp leader and naturalist at Camp Wesco in Stahlstown.

The first person in her family and the first girl in her town to attend college, Mrs. Quintana earned a bachelor’s degree in biology with honors from Clarion State College in 1963.

After 30 years of service teaching science in Albert Gallatin School District and raising a family, Mrs. Quintana returned to her inextinguishable roots by keeping a small dairy goat farm in Blacksville, W.Va.

Her love of local history compelled her to be an active member of Fort Mason Historical Society, Browns Run Trail committee, Warrior Trail Association and perennial festival participant at Mason Dixon Park. A nature enthusiast and expert on local flora, her dear friends, family, children and grandchildren will sadly miss long walks and talks in the woods with her.

Surviving are two brothers, John Zavage of Pittsburgh and Gerald Zavage of Laurel, Md.; many beloved nieces, nephews and cousins; and her four devoted children and their families: Arjay and Janna Franczyk and their three children, Paige, Stone and Chase of Waipahu, Hawaii; Lurea Joan (Franczyk) Doody and Robert Hendricks Doody Jr. and their son, Aengus jon Doody, of Waynesburg; Sundeigh Helen Franczyk Plesko and Chad Plesko and their three children, Hunter, Scout and River of Waynesburg; and Andre and Joy Quintana and their son, Oliver, of Morgantown, W.Va.

In accordance with her final wishes, a public Catholic burial service will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday, December 30, in St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery, Crucible, with a brunch immediately following. Arrangements are entrusted to Milliken and Throckmorton Funeral Home Inc., Daryl L. Throckmorton, owner/director, 197 North Maiden Street, Waynesburg, PA 15370.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to Humane Society of Greene County and Greene County 4H Dairy Goat Club.

Additional information is available at www.milliken-throckmortonfh.com.