- Date Of Death: December 27, 2021
- State: Pennsylvania
De Leo- Nester1935~2021Mary De Leo Nester age 86, of Berwyn, PA passed away on December 27, 2021Mary is the daughter of Frank and Mary De Leo and the sister of Dr. Concetta Harakal (all deceased).Mary graduated from West Catholic Girls High School where she was a pianist in the orchestra. She performed at the Academy of Music with the combined Archdiocesan orchestra under the direction of Dr. Donath a noted composer and director. While in high school, she was on the musical staff as the organist of WFIL, the Philadelphia Catholic Hour. At the same time, she was a substitute church organist at St. Donato’s Church and St. Augustine’s church. Mary’s teaching career spanned 38 yrs. in several districts with numerous achievements. While at Marple Newtown HS, she established and was a charter member and sponsor of the American Field Service, (a foreign exchange program that flourished).During the sixties, the Philadelphia Electric Company elected several teachers to attend a conference on the Atom at Argonne Laboratories in Chicago, IL. Mary was selected and 1977, Mary taught at Annapolis Jr. High School where she developed a program to meet the needs of “scientifically-talented” 1984-2001, Mary taught at Welsh Valley Middle School, Lower Merion H.S., and Bala Cynwyd Middle School. In 1992, she developed the Science Olympiad Team at Bala Cynwyd Middle School. In 2001, the team competed nationally at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and achieved 4th place in the 1995-96 Mary wrote and published activities on the Hazardous Waste for Constitution Works, still in use by the Constitution Education Foundation. This is an interactive program used in classrooms in many parts of the 1995, Mary applied and was awarded a grant from the National Gardening for Children Association for the development of Bala Cynwyd Middle School Gardening Project. In 2000, she applied and received a Bulb Grant from the National Gardening for Children Association to develop a bulb garden involving the students atBala Cynwyd Middle School In 1998, Mary received an award from Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society of Temple University in recognition of her work in teaching. After retiring from Lower Merion School District, Mary was a guest teacher in Radnor School District which she thoroughly enjoyed.A graduate of Temple University where she was Vice President of Delta Sigma Epsilon. Mary continued her graduate work at George Washington University and Cabrini University where she graduated with honors. She is a member of Kappa Gamma Pi, a national Catholic Graduate Honor was an American Cancer Society volunteer since 1965. She was an avid reader, a lover of music, traveling, cooking, and gardening were her passions!She was a loving mother, grandmother to Joe and Sam and a faithful friend, She is survived by her husband Harry, son Frank (Jennifer), and two loving grandchildren, Joseph and Samuel.
