Camille Fay Van Dongen

Camille Fay Van Dongen (68) passed away on May 30th, 2023, with her family lovingly by her side. Born Mary Clarissa Fay on June 16, 1954, the eldest of eight children, to Richard and Bette Fay in Washington, D.C., she lived her young life in Spring Lake, NJ. She attended St. Rose High School in Belmar where she was involved in the student body and cheerleading and graduated as part of the class of 1972. She enrolled in college at St. Leo’s in Florida before transferring to University of Delaware and graduating with a teaching degree in 1976. She met her husband Craig Van Dongen while teaching in the Arlington school system and working as a dental assistant at Georgetown University Dental School where Craig was a student. Their wedding on June 6, 1980 was well attended by both large families at St. Catharine’s Roman Catholic Church in Spring Lake, NJ. She described it as “the best day of my life” in a note to her father. Throughout her adult life she assisted in her husband’s dental office in Providence, RI and worked as a nutritionist at Hippocrates Health Institute in Florida. She moved to the West Palm Beach area in 2003 and finally settled in The Villages, FL where she enjoyed an active lifestyle. A social butterfly, she found herself reuniting with many St Rose Alumni and making many new friends. She was “living her best life”, performing yoga and playing golf regularly, among numerous other activities. She passed away at Gilchrist Hospice Center in Towson, MD. She is survived by her children Daniel Joseph Van Dongen and Monica Riegert (Tim); sisters Jeannine Mood (Tom), Diane Sanders (Michael), Bridget Griffith (Matt), and Jennifer Beauregard (Peter); brothers Tim Fay (Joan) and Richard Fay (Monica); and sister-in-law Ruth Fay. She was predeceased by parents Richard and Bette Fay and brother Dennis Fay.

A private celebration of life will be held in Maryland for family and close friends in June, with a tentative celebration to follow at the Villages, Florida in the Fall. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to her selected charity:   makeagift.jhu.edu/form/GynOnc under the gift designation of “Rebecca L. Stone, M.D. Research and Education Fund”. Dr. Stone was her beloved oncology physician whose life’s goal is to find a betters means to help prevent the occurrence of ovarian cancer.