Via, Former Yorktown Heights Teacher, Dies at 67

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y. - Judith Via of Yorktown Heights died March 15 at Sky View Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Croton-on-Hudson. She was 67.

A middle school teacher in Armonk for 10 years, Via had fought a long battle with Multiple Sclerosis and more recently breast cancer.

Via was born May 9, 1944 in Bexley, Ohio to Clarence Fetter and Mary Stalder. She graduated from Bishop Hartley High School in 1962 and Ohio Dominican College in 1966 with a major in Spanish and a minor in secondary education. 

Via was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and lived in Spain for one year, studying contemporary Spanish theater while traveling throughout Europe and the Middle East. 

Upon her return to the U.S., Via became a teaching assistant at Ohio State University and received a master's of art degree in Spanish literature. During that time she met her future husband, Francis, and began teaching at Fairfield School for Boys in Lancaster, Ohio.

On Aug. 7, 1970, she married Francis Via at St. Catherine's Church in Bexley and moved with him to New York. For the next 10 years, she taught middle school Spanish at the Byram Hills School District in Armonk. After the birth of her second son and the onset of MS, she retired from teaching and dedicated herself to raising her children. 

Following her retirement, Via published a Spanish puzzle booklet called Rompecabezas Para Aprender y Divertirse, which sold more than 1,000 copies.

Via is survived by her husband Francis Via, her sons  Dr. Michael (Caroline) Via of Manhasset, N.Y. and David (Tara Chapman) Via of Columbia, Md., her sisters Caroline Paese of Gahanna, Ohio and Rita Johnson of Columbus, Ohio, her brothers Thomas Fetter of Gahanna and Alan Fetter of Scottsdale, Ariz., two sisters-in-law, two brothers-in-law, and many nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her sisters Mary Kay Fetter and Martha Finneran, her brother Anthony Fetter, her sister-in-law Kay Fetter and her parents.

A wake was held March 18 at Clark Funeral Home in Yorktown Heights. The funeral mass was held at St. Patrick's Church in Yorktown on March 19 with interment at Amawalk Hill Cemetery in Amawalk, N.Y. 

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the National MS Society, Southern New York, 2 Gannett Drive, Suite LC, White Plains, NY 10604.

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