This September will mark the first year the Keystone Exams will be used as the deciding factor for whether or not students will graduate from Pennsylvania’s public high schools. September will also mark the five-year anniversary of House Resolution 456, the bi-partisan legislation that urged Gov. Ed Rendell to cease all funding and implementation of high school graduation requirements. I was a co-sponsor of this…
Theresa N. Russo, of West Chester, died July 1, at her home surrounded by her family. An avid baker known for her elaborate cakes and traditional Italian holiday cookies, Theresa was also an accomplished seamstress. She was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph and Margaret Napoline, her infant son Nicholas and her grandson Casey Russo. Theresa leaves behind William Russo Sr. the father of…
Margaret P. Myers, 94, of Quarryville, formerly of Kennett Square, died Sunday, July 6, at the Quarryville Presbyterian Retirement Community. She was the wife of Lester R. Myers, who died in 2008, and with whom she shared 67 years of marriage. Born in West Chester, she was the daughter of the late Carl J. and Charlotte Butler Pannell. She was a factory worker at FMC…
Janeth Ann Martin of Kennett Square, died June 29. She was 89. Known to her friends as Nancy, she was born in Greenwich, Conn. on Nov. 18, 1924, to Florence (Smith) Hyland and Matthew P. Hyland. She was the youngest of three girls; Harriet Laroque and Elizabeth ("Lib") Maloney, her older sisters, predeceased her. Nancy graduated from Greenwich Academy and attended Bennington College. She married…
Courtney “Court” “Mids” Taylor, 23, of Lincoln University, died suddenly on Friday, July 4, from injuries received in an automobile accident. Born in Newark, she was the daughter of Edward J. and Cynthia Snyder Taylor. She was an administrative assistant for Connolly Flooring in Newport, Del. Courtney was a 2009 graduate of Avon Grove High School. She was a member of the Avon Grove Church of the Nazarene.…
Richard Freeman DesJardien, 68, engineer and West Point graduate, class of ’68; settled in Coatesville, after 12 years in the military serving as a staff officer, a ranger, and a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. He finally retired from the VA Hospital, after leaving Lukens Steel, working as an engineer for both places. Beloved husband of Lorraine (Nee Bauer) DesJardien, son of the late Mildred (Nee…