Longtime Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School librarian, Adele Eskin, passed away on Saturday, Jan. 3 after a two and a half-year battle with cancer. She was 63. She is remembered by many for her kind heart, warm smile and love of connecting students with great literature.
Adele joined Falls Church City Public Schools in 2004 as the George Mason Middle School librarian and led the way in building the new library collection at Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School. She put her heart into making the library a warm and welcoming place for middle school students.
Adele fostered a love of books in even the most reluctant reader with a collection that appealed to the many passions of middle schoolers. She organized several book groups, including “Boys Eat, Boys Read” and “Girls Read, Too” which brought middle school students together for after school food and discussion.
She was also a volunteer at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the National Book Festival and the Virginia Library Association’s Jefferson Cup Award Committee. She retired from Falls Church City Public Schools in June 2013.
Adele is survived by her mother, Joan Eskin; sister, Marian Lorber; brother, Steve Eskin and their families, as well as her daughter, Carly Van Orman and her husband, Kiril, and their children Esther, Summer and a new little one on the way; her son, Daniel Van Orman, and his wife, Sarah, and their children, William, Henry and Charlotte; and her son, Eric Van Orman.
A Memorial Service in Adele’s honor will be held at noon this Sunday, Jan. 11th, at her home, located at 5824 Kara Place, Burke, VA 22015. (Parking will be available at the Rolling Road VRE Station.) In lieu of flowers, donations in Adele’s honor be made to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum or Room to Read.
