Madalyn “Madge” Crocker Koscelnik, 82, of The Villages, Fla., formerly of Erie, Pa., passed away Tuesday, April 13, 2021 in Florida after a battle with cancer. Born in 1938 in Erie, Madge was the daughter of the late Edward and Susan Kettern Crocker.
The youngest of nine in a large German-Irish-Scottish family, Madge had a rich and varied career in the field of nursing over six decades. Upon graduation from St. Vincent’s Nursing School in 1959, Madge left Erie for New York City to work in the ER at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. Through rounding with Columbia Presbyterian’s Chief of Staff and President of the AMA, “Nurse Madge” learned a great deal including to never be intimidated by physicians in an era where physicians were viewed as gods and thought of themselves as such. Shortly after her return to Erie to care for her father, she was named Head Nurse at St. Vincent’s Hospital and was the youngest to occupy that role. While raising five children, Madge held a variety of nursing jobs including providing care at the bedside of med-surgical patients, working night shifts at nursing homes, working in drug and alcohol rehab and serving as Mrs. Yuk at the Poison Control Center.
One of her last full-time nursing positions prior to retirement was as a nurse at a Family Practice Residency Program at a large city hospital. At Family Practice, Madge taught young physicians fresh out of medical school, instilling in them the wisdom she had cultivated as a seasoned nurse. Several of them credit their excellence as physicians today to their mentoring from Nurse Madge.
At the age 56, Madge graduated from Gannon University with a B.A. in counseling and a certification in Gerontology, a remarkable accomplishment while working fulltime. Madge retired to The Villages, Fla., in 2001 and actively pursued her love of golf, pinochle, and social organizing. After a few years in retirement, she decided to apply her gerontology training and counseling degree by joining the staff of a local Alzheimer Unit and an Assisted Care Facility. She also worked in Alzheimer’s research led by the University of South Florida. Nurse Madge’s nursing license was still active as of April 2021.
In The Villages, Madge remained an organizer and a leader throughout retirement. She served as President of the Villages Nursing Association and was proud of the Nursing Association’s work including their annual nursing scholarship and the routine lectures organized by the Association’s leadership. She established The Villages Erie Club. In her Chatham neighborhood in The Villages, Madge instituted bocce golf, golf scrambles, and Monday night pinochle, and hosted many neighborhood holiday block parties. She spearheaded and managed the neighborhood AED program.
Wherever Madge lived she was an active member of her church and most recently served in the Ministry of the Sick providing communion to home-bound parishioners and as a weekly money counter at St. Mark’s in The Villages.
Madge embodied in her professional and personal life her values of treating people equally regardless of social or economic position and of providing assistance when she could. She also taught her children pinochle, the Irish jig she performed in grade school and how she used to scoop home-made sauerkraut from a barrel in the basement when she was a child.
Madge was a premiere card player, as acknowledged by the privileged treatment she received at the Beau Rivage. She was part of many different card groups and rarely missed a game. Despite her fear of flying, she made it to Ireland and kissed the Blarney stone upside down. She made an annual trip to Hilton Head with the girls from Erie for many years. She had valuable skills with a bowdabra, and her door was always decorated in rhythm with the holidays. Halloween was her favorite which she celebrated by trick or treating in costume at the St. George Rectory in Erie. She had two holes-in-one in The Villages, the most recent two years ago. She could often be found poolside in The Villages reading the latest book from her book club.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her son, John Koscelnik; four brothers, Edward, Carl, John, and Arthur Crocker; and four sisters, Alice Brown, Betty Kingsbury, Jean Hetz and Marion Otteni.
She is survived by her husband of 58 years, Thomas “Tom” Koscelnik of Erie and The Villages, Fla.; two daughters, Valerie Koscelnik of Philadelphia, Pa., and Carolyn Short and husband, Bill of Frisco, Texas; two sons, Thomas Koscelnik of Erie and Timothy Koscelnik and wife, Susan of Holly Springs, Ga.; and two grandchildren, Caleb and Nicholas Koscelnik. She is also survived by many nieces, nephews, and dear friends.
Friends are invited to attend a Memorial Mass on April 28 at 10 a.m. at Saint Mark’s Church, 7081 SE Hwy. 42, Summerfield, Fla. Burial will be private. A service in Erie will be announced in the summer 2021.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. George School Tuition Angel Fund, 5145 Peach St., Erie, PA 16509; or to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, 7085 SE HWY 42, Summerfield, FL 34491; or to the Erie Humane Society, 2407 Zimmerly Road, Erie, PA 16506.
