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Pauline McGilvra Obituary
Pauline (Polly) Eskenasy McGilvra, 70, died June 21, 2018.
Born in Holyoke MA, Polly was a proud graduate of the Northampton School for Girls and Harvard University. She earned her PhD in Near Eastern Languages and Culture from Harvard and was a dedicated scholar, educator, and life coach. She taught at Blue Ridge Community College in Hendersonville, NC, for many years, and became a pastoral counselor in Hendersonville and in Atlanta.
Polly's productive life was interrupted by early onset Alzheimer's Disease. She retained her sweet personality, good humor, and love of family and chocolate throughout her debilitating illness.
She leaves her son Jonathan McGilvra and his wife Heather, granddaughter Alaina of Apex, NC, her mother Edith Eskenasy, sister Diane and her husband Tim Aldrich, all of Hendersonville, NC, and many loving cousins and friends.
She was predeceased by her father Isaac Eskenasy, maternal grandparents Jacob and Adeline Barowsky and paternal grandparents Max and Pauline Eskenasy.
A memorial service will be held at Agudas Israel Congregation in Hendersonville, NC at 2:00 on October 12, 2018.
Memorial contributions may be made to The Southern Poverty Law Center, 400 Washington Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36104 (splcenter.org), to MANNA FoodBank, 627 Swannanoa River Road, Asheville, NC 28805 (mannafoodbank.org) or to a charity of your choice.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for Pauline McGilvra
Martha Potter Kim
March 26, 2024
So sorry to learn this news. I knew her when she was in Cambridge while Doug was in my late husband´s seminar, one of his favorite students. Met Jonathan also when he was very young. Polly was a warm, intelligent, generous and supportive person and it surprises me not at all that she later went into the therapy field. All best wishes to Doug, Jonathan and their family.
Bill Obermiller
July 31, 2018
What a sweet spirit.
Diane Eskenasy
July 8, 2018
Thank you for your kind thoughts and memories. Polly was my sweet sister and your words are comforting to remind me how she touched many lives with love and humor, scholarship and spirituality.
July 7, 2018
When Polly was at Harvard she told of how she was in Arabic class with Karim Jabar, she also took a piece of textile i collected on a mountain top in Amasya Turkey back back to Harvard and her friends identified it as Celgic Turk. I would have loved to be one of her students. She and i commuted to UMASS in grandpa Jakes Cadillac, what a hoot when i parked it outside my Jackson Parkway housing project home. She was a sweet and loving person who i am sure will be sorely missed by
all. CODOLENCES TO FAMILY FROM BARRY SPARKES
Mary Trowbridge
July 6, 2018
She had exceptional intelligence and compassion. I hadn't seen her for 20 years and assumed she was enjoying a magnificent life in Florida. What a shock to read of her illness! I had total respect and admiration for her.
Suzanne Barowsky
July 6, 2018
Our love and sympathies to the family. Polly always had a wonderful smile and a kind word. She will be missed.
Penny Bolton
July 6, 2018
Diane and family, I am so sorry for your loss. My deepest condolences to all who knew and loved Polly.
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