Sarah Ellen Eisley Desmond

Sarah Ellen (Eisley) Desmond (Sally), PhD., born September 5, 1938 in Charleroi, PA, raised in New Cumberland, PA. Resident of Raleigh, NC since 2007. Beloved wife of Richard Earl Desmond, PhD. They were married in Washington DC on June 1, 1963. Sally is survived by her husband, and two sons, Richard, Jr., of Eugene, OR and Robert, of Raleigh. She is also survived by four grandsons: Red and Cal of Eugene, OR and Bowen and Kellen of Raleigh, and her sister, Suzanne Vanderbilt of Redondo Beach, CA. Sally was predeceased by her father, Freeman Eisley and her mother, Clara Voigt Eisley of New Cumberland, PA. Sally was an outstanding student. From New Cumberland High School, she won scholarships enabling her to attend Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA in 1957. She graduated in 1960, Magna cum Laude, with a major in English. She then won a scholarship to attend Boston University to pursue a Master’s degree in Government, which she attained, with Honors in 1962. In Boston, she met her husband-to-be, Richard Desmond in1962. They were married at St. Stephen’s in Washington, DC on June 1, 1963. The couple moved to Minneapolis, MN in 1964, where Sally worked in Higher Education Administration, while her husband pursued a PhD in Counseling Psychology. Sally was as good a worker as she was a student. In 1970, Sally moved to Pittsburgh, PA where her husband joined the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh and she enrolled in the PhD Program in Higher Education Administration. The couple had two sons and lived in Mt. Lebanon until they moved to Raleigh in 2007. Sally received her PhD, taught at the U. of Pittsburgh, and was active in PTA in Mt. Lebanon. She loved being a mother more than any of her other roles, and was a wonderful mother, as her sons attest. Sally contracted Parkinson’s Disease in 1986 and lived with it until her death in 2017, an outstanding amount of time to cope with this disease. She coped with Parkinson’s with courage and dignity and never complained. This was the way she lived her life; with strength, love and dignity. A memorial service will be held 5:00 PM, Saturday, July 22, 2017, at Bryan-Lee Funeral Home, 831 Wake Forest Rd., Raleigh. The family will receive friends from 3:30-5:00 PM at the funeral home prior to the service. Contributions may be made to the Parkinson’s Research Foundation, 5969 Cattle Ridge Blvd., Suite 100, Sarasota, FL 34232 or www.parkinsonshope.org Condolences may be made to www.bryan-leefuneralhome.com