Peggy J. Eskridge

GALESTOWN - Peggy J. Eskridge, 79, passed away Monday, Feb. 5, 2007, at Nanticoke Memorial Hospital in Seaford, Del.

She was born in Laurel to the late Roland S. Collins and Florence Ward Collins. She had been raised since the age of 12 by James and Pearl Ward Lynch.

Mrs. Eskridge had worked at E. I. Dupont Co. in the mailroom and for Dorchester County School district as a substitute teacher.

She was a member of the Sharptown Fire Co. Ladies Auxiliary, Laurel Alumni Association, Wheatley UM Church, Martha Rebekah Lodge 21, lifetime member of Maryland PTA, Dorchester Farm Bureau Women"s Committee, and she volunteered at the Nanticoke Memorial Hospital and Peninsula Regional Medical Center. She was a lifetime member of the Eldorado-Brookview Volunteer Fire Department. She also enjoyed her Windows Club in Seaford.

Mrs. Eskridge is survived by her son, Gary Eskridge and his wife, Pam of Galestown; a daughter, Janet Nicholas and her husband, Ray Jr. of Vienna; three sisters-in-law, Shirley Smith of Rockport, N.Y., Florence Davis and her husband, Harold of Princess Anne; Nancy Eskridge of Princess Anne; a sister, Eleanor Lee West and her husband, Charles P. of Gumboro, Del. She is also survived by a special cousin, Carolyn Brittingham and her husband, Ray of Laurel, Del.; grandchildren, Benjamin and Emily Eskridge of Galestown and Ray Nicholas III of Vienna; nieces and nephews, Charles P. West II and wife, Debbie of Gumboro, Del., Carol Davis Hobbs and husband, Richard of Fruitland, Laura Davis Mears and husband, Thomas of Berlin and Judy Eskridge Gucker and husband, Ed of Rockport, N.Y. Several cousins also survive her.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Harold F. Eskridge in 1995.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Hannigan, Short, Disahroon Funeral Home, 700 West St., Laurel, Del. Friends and family may call from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday and one hour prior to the funeral service on Thursday. Burial will be held in the Family Farm"s Cemetery.

Contributions can be made in her name to the Laurel Alumni Association, P.O. Box 382, Laurel, DE 19956 or the Wheatley UM Church Preservation Fund, c/o Beverly Wheatley, 5833 Wheatley Church Road, Seaford, DE 19973.