Eileen Pagan

Monticello, NY

Eileen Pagan, 81, died on Friday, July 18, 2008 at Orange Regional Medical Center, Horton Campus, in Middletown, NY, after a courageous battle with lung cancer. She was 81 years old.

She was born in Paterson, NJ on December 1, 1926 to Frederick and Johanna Pagan. She graduated from Eastside High School and worked at Wright Aeronautical Corporation during WW II. After the war she worked for UPI.

She married Milton Russak in 1951, and they moved to Levittown, PA in 1954, where she raised 3 children. She was active in the civil rights movement and was instrumental in opening the first Montessori school in Bucks County, PA. She also worked at Princeton University in the History & Philosophy of Science Department.

She graduated from Goddard College, earning both a BA and an MA. After her divorce in 1980 she moved to Monticello (now Forestburgh) to a cabin she rented and eventually owned, where she lived until her death. In 1995 she became a Credentialed Alcoholism Counselor. Since 2000 she worked at various libraries, and worked at the Orange Regional Medical Center, Medical Library until this year. She loved nature, her grandchildren, writing, and people.

She is predeceased by her parents, her brother, J. Desmond Pagan, and is survived by her three children, Helen Morgan, Paul Russak, and Elinor Holland. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Anna Holland, Adam Holland, Jennette Morgan, and Tarik Morgan.

A celebration of her life will be held at her home on August 17, 2008.