Judith A. Polay of Provincetown passed away in her home Wednesday, July 7, 2016. She was the wife of the late Edward Polay, who died in March of 2014.
In the early seventies, Judy Polay swept into town with her Joan River's accent and her late husband, Edward, and the rest is history. Judy with her keen intelligence; warm and caring heart and her chic sense of style started teaching in the elementary school. In speaking about Judith the other day, one of her former students, Amanda Morris said, “Judith in her skirts and go-go boots was HOT; all the boys wanted to be in her class." A gentleman was heard to say that he wished that he was held back in school so that he could be in her class again. Judith taught for eleven years and with her husband opened the Hideaway restaurant, and then the Little Store and then the Blue Light. And, by the way, Judy and Eddie had been married for fifty years!
Another gentleman in town said that Judith was a real lady. Judy didn't speak badly about anyone. A few days after attending a particular dinner party where a certain gentleman was also present who was cheating on his wife, Judith encountered the host and merely said that it would be a kindness to let the guests know who else would be at any future dinners. Nothing was said about anyone--but volumes were understood.
Judith cared about people and took care of and nurtured people out of the limelight once even staying up all night with an employee who was in labor in the hospital. She was an honorable person. She forgave people their foibles, their slights, and their jealousies; she would extol the goodness she saw in people and she kept her own counsel when she saw the bad.
She was a philanthropic woman; a determined, smart, and decisive woman who kept her word and who valued her privacy and in these later years she kept her medical battles discreetly private. Judith Polay was truly an honorable person.
Thanks needs to go to Dr. William Shay, the medical team at Outer Cape Health and to Dr. Mary Jane Houlihan at Deaconess Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. A special thanks also to her devoted and loving friends, Michael Rogovsky and his spouse Mark J. Mello. Michael would often drive from New Bedford to Provincetown and then take Judy to Boston for Doctors appoints, and other medical procedures even spending days at Judy’s side in Boston when she underwent operations and then look after her upon her return home. Judy has no Family in Massachusetts--but she and Michael and Mark truly became a family.
Judy's cremains will be interred next to her husband, Eddy, on Friday July 22nd at 11:00 am in Provincetown Cemetery. At Judy’s request there will be no formal ceremony, but anyone who wishes is cordially invited to attend and may say a few words if they wish.
If desired, donations in Judith’s memory may be made to the Carrie A. Seaman Animal Shelter, PO Box 1374., Provincetown, MA 02657, the Provincetown Council on Aging, 2 Mayflower Street, Provincetown, MA 02657 or to Helping Our Women, 34 Conwell St., Provincetown, MA 02657.