Arthur J. Ivey, 60
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Arthur J. Ivey, 60, of 80 Taconic Ave., died Monday, May 7, 2007, at home after a long battle with lung cancer.
Born in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 18, 1946, son of Curtis and Doris Winters Ivey of Lake Sunapee, N.H., he was raised in Greenwich, Conn., and graduated from Greenwich High School.
He served in the Army as a sergeant in the 105th Infantry in Vietnam. He was honorably discharged in 1969.
In the mid-1990s, Mr. Ivey relocated to Boston where he owned and operated The Ivey Cos., which was the parent company for several business entities. In the early 1980s, he purchased Willowood Nursing Home in Great Barrington and expanded the company to Pittsfield, Williamstown and North Adams. He also founded Willow Care, a company that offered home care and medical equipment as well as an infusion center that provided intravenous care for patients.
Previously, he owned and operated the Berkshire Hills Nursing Home in Monterey and Berkshire Hills North Nursing Home in Lee.
Health care was the cornerstone of Mr. Ivey's professional career. He took great pride in the care and well-being of not only the residents of Willowood but the hundreds of men and women he employed. The Willowood Nursing Homes were at the forefront of respiratory care and were the first health care facilities in Massachusetts to admit ventilator-dependent patients. Willow Care offered an infusion center that provided intravenous care for patients in a homelike, comfortable setting. He sold the nursing home business to the Berkshire Health Systems in 2001.
His interests were extensive and he cherished his time spent on Lake Sunapee but mostly he loved spending time with his children and grandchildren. He was a former member of the Great Barrington Lions Club, Wyantenuck Country Club and the Lake Sunapee Yacht Club. He enjoyed sailing, deep-sea fishing and playing golf.
In addition to his parents, he leaves a son, Neil Rochford Ivey and his wife, Sarah, of Clayton, N.C.; three daughters, Hilary Ivey Mueller and her husband, Joel, Emily Braun Ivey and Courtney O'Connell Ivey, all of Great Barrington; his former wife, Pamela Heady Ivey of Great Barrington; three brothers, Alan Ivey of Weston, Andrew Ivey of Watertown, and David Ivey of Hanover, N.H.; two sisters, Andrea Fontaine of Weston and Kathleen Cararra of Charlotte, Vt.; five grandchildren, Ivey Ann, Mabel Elizabeth, Rayford Joel and Emily Gallagher Mueller of Great Barrington and Jackson Arthur Ivey of Clayton, and 20 nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by a brother, Curtis L. Ivey Jr., and a sister Elizabeth Ivey Jurgenson.
FUNERAL NOTICE — The funeral for Mr. Ivey will be Friday, with a Liturgy of Christian Burial at St. Peter's Church at 10 a.m., celebrated by the Rev. William Murphy. Burial will follow at Elmwood Cemetery in Great Barrington.
Calling hours are tomorrow from 4 to 7 p.m. at FINNERTY & STEVENS FUNERAL HOME. Donations in Mr. Ivey's memory may be made to either HospiceCare in the Berkshires or to the Elizabeth Freeman Center, in care of funeral home, 426 Main St., Great Barrington, MA 01230.