Andrea (Poppy) Quigley, poet, teacher, consultant, marketeer and longtime resident of Martha’s Vineyard, died Wednesday, June 28 in Boston after losing her courageous battle to cancer.

Born in 1941 in New York city, Andrea was raised in Queens and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Queens college, an master’s degree in liberal studies from SUNY, and an MBA from Simmons College. She studied writing at Skidmore Summer Institute, The Joiner Center at U Mass, and Cape Cod Writers Institute. She was a much-loved teacher at John Glenn High School in Huntington, N.Y. (where she was known as Mrs. V) before relocating to Boston to pursue a successful career in business. She formed her own consulting company, ABQ Associates, specializing in corporate training. She returned to teaching later in life as a professor at Lesley University and Pine Manor College.

After numerous visits to the magical Island Andrea and her husband, Ned, moved to Martha’s Vineyard in the early 2000s, where she was an active member of the community including a member of the Cleaveland House Poets, the Martha’s Vineyard Poets’ Collective, and the MV Poetry Society. She served on the boards of Featherstone Center for the Arts and the Friends of Family Planning and was affiliated with Women Empowered and Peace Quilts for Haiti.

Her voice in the arts, her poetic words, passion for causes she believed in, and endearing light will live on through the love she spread.

She was predeceased by her brother Michael. She is survived by her husband Ned Sternick, her children Kimberly Biggs and Scott Vrusho and his wife Kate, her grandchildren, Ashley, Dylan and Anabelle, who knew her as Poppy, and her brother Frank, along with many cousins here and abroad in the Irish homeland.

A celebration of life will be held on August 12 from 1 to 3 p.m. at Featherstone. All on and off Island folks will be welcome to attend.

In lieu of flowers, donations will be accepted in her name at the following charities: Stand Up To Cancer (standup2cancer.org) and Featherstone Center for the Arts (featherstoneart.org).