Abigail A. McKay

She was born to Cuthbert G. and Katharine H. (Thomas) McKay in Rochester on July 24, 1931.

Known to friends as “Abby” or “Gail,” she graduated from Nottingham High School in Syracuse, in 1949; she left Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs in 1952 to marry Alan R. Chien of Cobleskill.

After divorce in 1969, she completed her B.A. in Studio Arts with honors. She married William J. Dennebaum of Schenectady in 1976 and divorced again in 1994.

A professional artist and draftsperson, she worked for Dudley Observatory in Albany and held a variety of arts- and church-related positions, including executive director of the Lake Placid Sinfonietta, secretary of St. Eustace Episcopal Church, and frame maker at the Bookstore Plus. She also worked as a paste-up artist for Barry & Wilson Printing and did freelance and commission drawing and painting for many years. 

Always working on a new painting or drawing, Abby’s favorite subjects were landscapes, animals, birds and requests by friends and family. Over the years, she signed her works “Gail Chien,” “Gail Dennebaum,” “Gail McKay,” or “Abigail McKay.” She loved travel and adventure and lived at times in various upstate New York locales, including Rochester, Syracuse, Elizabethtown, Hudson Falls, Gansevoort, Glenville, Lake Placid, Wilmington and Saranac Lake, as well as in Florida and abroad in Germany, Austria and Saudi Arabia.

Staying connected with family and friends was her joy, as was sharing her passion for nature and the outdoors–particularly canoeing, skiing and hiking–with her sons and grandchildren and her dear “Isabel Six” friends, Jeri, Ruth, Lorraine, Monique and Marcia. She volunteered with many organizations, including the Olympic Regional Development Authority, Lake Placid Sinfonietta, Hospice of Saranac Lake and St. Eustace Episcopal Church. She loved gardening, music, watching the birds, learning computers and sharing friends in many groups, at all times staying closely connected with family.

Abigail is survived by her three loving sons: Peter Chien and wife Lori of Rome, New York; Christopher Chien of Green Island; and Timothy Chien and partner Shelley LaPorte of Saranac Lake and Fort Collins, Colorado. Abby was “Oma” to her beloved grandchildren Katherine and Sarah Chien and Taylor Chien, his wife Marissa, and great-grandson Julian Chien. Abby also leaves behind nieces and nephews in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and New Hampshire, and her beloved companion, Charles Zimmerman of Davenport Center, with whom she shared life, love and adventures in the last years of her life.

Arrangements for cremation were made by Lester R. Grummons Funeral Home of Oneonta. A memorial service will be held at St. Eustace Episcopal Church in Lake Placid on Jan. 27 at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, charitable gifts in Abigail’s honor may be made to North Country Public Radio, Adirondack Mountain Club or Lake Placid Center for the Arts.