Vivas May Macoskey

1930 - 2025

Vivas May (Young) Macoskey, 94, of Butler, passed away peacefully Saturday, May 17, 2025, at her home.
Born on July 23, 1930, in Tacoma, Wash., she was the daughter of Vivas M. (Johnson) Young and Erle C. Young. She grew up in Tacoma where she met her future husband, Dr. Robert A. Macoskey, in Sunday school and graduated from Stadium High School in Tacoma, Wash. She interrupted her studies at the College of Puget Sound to marry Robert on Sept. 9, 1950, and moved to Berkeley, Calif. for three years, where she worked in a jewelry store, as a secretary and bank teller. Then, in 1954, Vivas and Bob, her husband, traveled to Scotland so he could complete his doctorate at Edinburg University where they stayed until 1956.
Vivas and Bob started their family in Michigan and also lived in West Virginia, Ohio, eastern Pennsylvania and Indiana before settling in Butler. She proudly completed her undergraduate degree in 1981 at Slippery Rock and later her master's in education. She taught as a substitute teacher for several years in Butler-area schools.
She was an ardent supporter of the grassroots Alternative Living Technologies and Energy Research (ALTER) Project that promoted sustainability research and education at Slippery Rock University's Harmony House under the leadership of her husband. After his untimely death in 1990, she was actively involved with the ALTER Project: sitting on its board of directors, managing production of its newsletter, The Alternator, and sponsoring associated scholarships for many years. With her dear friends, Doris Rose and Sue Morrow, she could often be found tending flower beds in the gardens at Harmony House, later renamed the Robert A. Macoskey Center for Sustainability Education and Research.
She lived independently for the past 35 years and led a quiet and peaceful life in the company of her family, close friends, plants, books, puzzles and the feathered friends outside her windows that she never grew tired of watching. She delivered Meals on Wheels, attended SilverSneakers and supported many environmental causes. She attended Covenant Presbyterian Church in Butler.
Vivas is survived by two sons, Eric W. Macoskey and his wife, Mary Jane, of Renfrew, and Kristian A. Macoskey and his wife, Judith, of Pittsburgh. She leaves her dear grandchildren, Aaron (Sarah) and Megan (Ryan Mustio), children of Eric and Mary Jane, and Rebecca (Ian Rousseau) and Jonathan (Lauren), children of Kristian and Judith; and her two great-granddaughters, Stella Mae (daughter of Megan and Ryan Mustio) and Evelyn Rose (daughter of Jonathan and Lauren Macoskey).
She was preceded in death by her loving sister, Glada Merle (Young) Daughtery of Seattle, Wash. She is also survived by her niece, Pam (Bill) Boring; and nephew, Mark (Kay) Daughtery of Seattle, Wash.
Hope springs eternal in the human breast:
Man never is, but always to be blest:
The soul, uneasy and confined from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.
- Alexander Pope
MACOSKEY - In accordance with her wishes, there will be no public services for Vivas May (Young) Macoskey, who died Saturday, May 17, 2025.
Donations may be made in her honor to the Macoskey Center for Sustainability Education and Research at Slippery Rock University, 1 Morrow Way, 100 Old Main, Slippery Rock, PA 16057.
Arrangements are entrusted to THOMPSON-MILLER FUNERAL HOME, 124 E. North St., Butler.
All who knew Vivas are encouraged to share memories and upload photos to her unique remembrance page at www.thompson-miller.com.