Marie McCarthy Finn, 71, of Yardley, an artist

Marie McCarthy Finn, 71, of Yardley, an artist, died of ovarian cancer Wednesday, July 21, at home.

Mrs. Finn studied art at Neshaminy High School. Three decades later, after working as a secretary and then getting married and raising five children, she resumed her studies. She eventually earned an associate degree from Bucks County Community College and completed the four-year certificate program at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

"It took 15 years to do six years of college art. I never gave up," Mrs. Finn told an Inquirer reporter in 2004.

In recent years, she was able to devote time to painting and exhibiting her work in local galleries.

Her painting of artist Barry Snyder won an award from the Trenton City Museum, and her portrait of artist Tom Malloy is in the museum collection.

Her other notable portraits include Pat Croce and former Philadelphia Police Commissioner John F. Timoney.

Christopher Willett, owner of Village Artworks in Lahaska, once said: "Her portraits stop people. They are very lifelike."

Mrs. Finn also painted still lifes and landscapes. She taught adult Saturday classes and summer classes for children in her home studio - a converted garage. She was a past vice president of the New Hope Art League.

Mrs. Finn continued to paint after becoming ill in August. In December, she completed Ladies Day on the Canal, which depicts women at the turn of the 20th century sitting with parasols on a barge in the Delaware Canal, said her husband, Thomas M. Finn.

She and her husband met in Wildwood when she asked him and two friends for directions to the local Catholic church. They married in 1966.

In addition to her husband, Mrs. Finn is survived by sons Michael and Patrick; daughters Kathleen Lynch, Rosemarie Torchia, and Maryanne Haney; a brother; a sister; and 12 grandchildren.

Friends may call from 8:30 to 9:15 a.m. Friday, July 23, at the FitzGerald-Sommer Funeral Home, 17 S. Delaware Ave., Yardley. A Funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Friday, July 23, at St. Ignatius of Antioch Catholic Church, 999 Reading Ave., Yardley. Burial will be in Washington Crossing National Cemetery, Upper Makefield.