Dr. Mary Elizabeth Choquette

RIVERDALE PARK, MD. — Dr. Mary Elizabeth (Edsall) Choquette, 59, of Riverdale Park, Md., wife of Carl Choquette, died Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015, of complications from surgery. Mary was an irrepressible force, touching, connecting, and guiding lives all over the country.

She made her mark in the world of dance, library science and performance archive. Mary's research focused on cultural heritage information management education and modern performance documentation and preservation and she taught in the School of Library and Information Science at The Catholic University of America, the Palmer School at Long Island University, and most recently at the iSchool at the University of Maryland. She also made extraordinary contributions to dance heritage as consulting (and first) archivist at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, whose archives are among some of the most important in the history of modern dance, and her other previous professional positions include Founding Curator of the Philadelphia Dance Collection at Temple University; Assistant Curator in the Harvard Theatre Collection at Harvard University; Performing Arts Archivist in the Music Division of the Library of Congress; and positions in the Libraries at the University of Maryland. Mary was passionate about working with students whether in face-to-face classes or online and she enjoyed leading overseas summer study classes to the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival.

Mary was the daughter of Norma (Juergensen) Arntz of Dayton, Ohio, and the late D. Gary Edsall. She was born at St. Joseph's hospital in Alton in 1955, and attended Thomas Jefferson, Horace Mann, and East Junior High Schools before moving with her family to Maryland in 1969. Our family has separated over time but Mary worked hard at keeping it together in spirit. She provided, guidance, advice, camaraderie and great meals. She was an inspiration to us all in her accomplishments and her life.

She is survived by sisters Nancee Bennof, Washington, D.C., Katherine Reamy, Dayton, Ohio, and Sara Poole, Fairfield, PA. Also surviving are brothers Dana Edsall, Washington Boro, PA, Roger Edsall, Hyattsville, MD, John Edsall, Oriskany, NY, Joe Edsall, Moosic, PA, and Regan Edsall, Middletown, MD. She was predeceased by brother, David Edsall, and sister, Julie McNutt.