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ITHACA - Edith Marion (nee Wallace) Poppensiek, of 32 Horizon Drive, Ithaca, passed away at the Hospicare Residence on East King Road on Saturday, September 30, 2006, surrounded by her family and following a short illness. She was 85. Edith was born on March 17, 1921 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of John and Marion Graham (nee Allen) Wallace. She was raised in Bala Cynwyd, a suburban Philadelphia community, where she attended Lower Merion Township public schools. In 1941, she graduated from Drexel University and began work in the Dean's office, School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where she met her future husband, Dr. George C. Poppensiek. They were married on July 3, 1943 in Philadelphia, and celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary this summer.
As a homemaker and mother of a son and a daughter, Edith and her family moved from the northeastern tip of Long Island to Ithaca in 1959, when her husband became Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University. As wife of the Dean, she worked tirelessly and enthusiastically to render assistance to members of the college and university communities. She will be particularly remembered for helping new faculty members and their families to feel welcome and supported in Ithaca. From 1960 to 1974, she served as Advisor to the Student Wives' Auxiliary of the American Veterinary Medical Association, and had been a member of the AVMA Auxiliary for 47 years at the time of her death. She was an active member in and had served as president (1965-66) of the Cornell University Campus Club, and she had been a member of the P.E.O. Sisterhood since 1954. Edith was a volunteer at the Cayuga Medical Center for more than two decades and in tribute to that service, was named a Life Member of the Hospital Auxiliary. She was a devoted member of the First Congregational Church of Ithaca since 1980, serving on the Prayer Care Committee for many years. A woman of strong faith, she liked to offer the optimistic admonition: "Remember, the last chapter has yet to be written." Edith was a warm, gracious person who treated everyone with kindness and respect. She was a loving wife, mother and grandmother and will be missed enormously by her family and many friends. In addition to her loving husband; her most cherished legacy includes her son, Neil and his wife, Danilee; her daughter, Leslie; and five grandchildren, Jackson, Amy, Susan, Michelle and Megan. A memorial service will be held at the First Congregational Church, Ithaca, on Thursday, October 5, at 4:00 p.m. with the Rev. Catherine Taylor, Minister, and the Rev. Dr. Douglas J. Green officiating. In lieu of flowers, friends are asked to consider making a donation in Edith's memory to Hospicare, 172 E. King Road, Ithaca, NY 14850; to the First Congregational Church, 309 Highland Road, Ithaca, NY 14850; or to the charity of their choice.
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