PRINCETON… Ethel W. Pankove, 91, passed away Monday April 2, 2018 at her residence.
Born in Coaldale, PA to Morris and Rebecca Wasserman, Ethel was the youngest of four children: Ann, Robert and Samuel. First in her class at Coaldale High School, she moved to Trenton, NJ in 1943 and finished at Trenton Central High School. She graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia with both a BA and MA in English Literature.
Her first job after college was an English teacher at the NJ State Home for Girls on Whittlesey Road in Trenton. In 1948, she met Jacques I. Pankove at a folk dance at Princeton University. They married in 1950. She worked for one year as an English teacher at Princeton High School in 1953. Later, after raising her two sons through their formative years, she returned to Rutgers University graduating with an EdD. in school psychology. She completed her dissertation on the effects of low socio-economic status on urban children in the Oakland (CA) Public Schools. Working part-time in the Princeton Regional School District as a school psychologist, she later transferred to the Montgomery Township School District as a school psychologist and its first Director of Special Services. She innovated an early identification of special needs children at kindergarten registration. She was a former President of the NJ Association of School Psychologists. She was a fellow of the American Board of Professional Psychology.
She retired in 1985 moving to Boulder, CO where her husband became a research professor at the University of Colorado. When he became an emeritus professor, they formed Astralux, a research company where she served as its president. The business was sold in 2002. In 2010, they relocated back to Princeton, NJ.
An advocate for the disadvantaged, Ethel marched on Washington (DC) for Jobs & Freedom (August 28, 1963) and contributed to many charities. She taught English as a second language to many immigrants. An avid reader, Ethel relished her role of Grandma to her two grandchildren, mother to her two sons and spouse to her husband and life partner, Jacques, who predeceased her in July 2016.
She is survived by her sons Martin (Caroline) of Alexandria, VA and Simon (Melissa) of West Windsor, NJ, two grandchildren, David and Rebecca and her long-time companion, Iris Gregorio.
Funeral services and burial are Sunday 11:30AM, April 8, at Greenwood Cemetery, in Hamilton Township, NJ. The family respectfully requests memorial contributions to a charity of the donor’s choice.