Obituary of Mary Eskew

Mary Lou Eskew, 78, long-time resident of State College, died Monday, July 14, 2014 at Brookline Nursing Home. She was born in Atlantic City, NJ, to Lewis L. and Mary (Adams) Moyer and spent her childhood in Port Chester, NY. She briefly attended Penn State, then dropped out to marry Thomas J. Eskew, Jr. in 1957 with whom she lived a long and happy life until his death in 2003. In the early 70's, she resumed her association with Penn State as a dishwasher in a research lab. This led to renewing work on her degree, which eventually led to her earning her Ph.D. in 1992 and spending the years until her retirement in 1999 working as a Research Associate investigating the immunology of the lungs. The high point of her career was being co-author of a paper on a novel type of pulmonary drug delivery system that was published in Science. She is survived by three children, Rosemary, married to Emil Stecher, now in Collingswood, NJ; Kathryn, married to Steven Chrismer, now in Douglassville, PA; and Thomas Eskew, married to Jill Lynn, of South Mills, NC, and six grandchildren, Christopher (married to Jennifer), Brandon, Paul, Colin, Emma and Hannah. In addition, she had several close friends who were a great support to her in her final years after the death of her husband and the onset of Alzheimer's disease, for which her children are deeply grateful. Funeral service will be at 10 a.m., on Saturday, July 19, 2014 at Koch Funeral Home, 2401 South Atherton Street, State College, with Pastor Neal Lassinger officiating. Burial will be in Boalsburg Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer's Association, P.O. Box 96011 Washington, DC 20090-6011 or www.alz.org/donate. Arrangements are under the care of Koch Funeral Home, State College. Online condolences and signing of the guest book may be entered at www.kochfuneralhome.com.