Eva Scarry

Died peacefully on Sunday, October 10.
Mrs. Scarry was the mother of Patsy Jones (Ralph) of Rochester, Prof. Elaine Scarry of Cambridge, MA, and Joe Scarry, of Chicago, IL; the grandmother of Eric Jones of Chicago and Christy Jones of Brooklyn, NY, Mark Fisher of San Francisco, and J.T. Scarry of Chicago, Tip Scarry of Oberlin, OH, and Alanna Huck-Scarry of Harbor Springs, MI; and the great-grandmother of Colette and Brett Fisher of San Francisco, and Felix and Corina Llerena Jones, both of Chicago.
Mrs. Scarry was born Eva Elaine Melker on October 25, 1921, in Nesquehoning, PA. In 1939, she won several scholarship competitions that enabled her to attend Temple University in Philadelphia, where she majored in Education. At Temple, she met her future husband, Joseph T. Scarry, Jr. Soon after graduation from college, she moved to her husband's home town of Summit, NJ, and began to raise a family; they soon relocated to the neighboring town of Chatham, where all three of her children spent the majority of their school years. She lived for about a decade in another New Jersey town, Madison, before moving to the Rochester area six years ago.
In addition to raising a family, Mrs. Scarry had a career as a teacher and librarian. She earned her Masters of Library Science (MLS) degree in the early '70s by commuting between her New Jersey home and Columbia University on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Mrs. Scarry sent her daughter Patsy to Chatham College (Pittsburgh, PA); her daughter Elaine to Chatham College and the University of Connecticut; and her son Joe to Harvard. Her daughter Elaine is a tenured professor of English at Harvard.
Mrs. Scarry inherited a lifelong love of gardening and flowers from her father, which she passed along to all three of her children. She had a passion for crossword puzzles and Scrabble -- her high school friends joked that she had "swallowed the dictionary!" -- and in her later years she became a dedicated painter, principally in acrylics.
She was deeply involved in her church, which for most of her adult life was St. John's Lutheran Church in Summit, NJ, and her involvement in the church inspired a similar commitment to the Church and to the principles of social justice on the part of her children.
Her family expresses their deep gratitude to the many friends their mother cherished at The Woodlands at Park Ridge during her years in Rochester, and to the faith community at Messiah Lutheran Church that welcomed her with open arms. In addition, the family wishes to commend the outstanding professionals at The Woodlands, the practice of Dr. Daniel Zatreanu at Unity Geriatrics, and Lifetime Hospice.
A memorial service will be scheduled at the convenience of the family.