Longtime Princeton resident
MONTGOMERY — Hope “Patsy” English Erdman, a longtime resident of Princeton, died Saturday at the University Medical Center in Princeton. She was 79.
Born in New York City, she graduated from the Westover School of Middlebury, Conn., attended Bryn Mawr College, then was employed by Charles Scribner’s Sons publishing company in New York, where she became publicity director and developed what became a lifelong passion for books, reading and learning.
While vacationing and sailing in Martha’s Vineyard, she began a courtship with her future husband and they were married in 1954 and soon settled in his hometown of Princeton, where they raised their four children.
Her clear focus of life was family and friends.
She volunteered for the Bryn Mawr Book Sale for nearly 50 years, working not only for the annual scholarship benefit sale but also as a faithful worker on the twice-weekly donation days at the book warehouse.
Daughter of the late William and Margaret English of New York City and Edgartown, Mass., she is survived by her husband, Peter E.B. Erdman of Montgomery; sons and daughter-in-law William and Barbara Erdman of Wenham, Mass. and Andrew Erdman of Princeton; daughters and sons-in-law Margaret and James Becker of Wilder, Vt. and Caroline and Nixon Hare of Montgomery; sister Margaret “Peggy” von Wichman, nephew Bradford and his wife Kjersti and their three children, and niece Alexandra of Anchorage, Alaska; and grandchildren Jamie and Andrew Erdman, Sumner and Colin Becker, Maggie, Amory and Phoebe Hare.
A memorial service will be held 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Nassau Presbyterian Church, Princeton.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The Crisis Ministry of Princeton and Trenton, 61 Nassau Street, Princeton, NJ 08542.
Arrangements are by Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.