Robert M. Costello
OBITUARY
Robert M. Costello, 86, Elizabethtown, KY, former Dunmore resident and a native of Scranton ‘s Hill Section, died peacefully on March 7. He was predeceased by his wife of 47 years, the former Anne E. Dempsey. Born on February 11, 1940, he was a son of the late Peter F. and Catherine Meehan Costello of Scranton. He was a 1958 graduate of Girard College in Philadelphia where he excelled in writing and music, both of which became lifetime pursuits.
He was awarded a scholarship to the University of Scranton, graduating in 1963 with a BS degree in English. Bob played both the acoustic string bass and electric bass in local bands while working his way through college.
An Army veteran, he served generals in the Secretary General Staff at I Corps in Uijeongbu, Korea and in Heidelberg, Germany from 1963 to 1966. Upon discharge, he became a reporter and editorial assistant for the Catholic Light, where he met his future wife. Later he became press secretary to the late Scranton Mayor James J. Walsh and public relations director for the Scranton Redevelopment Authority.
Following a stint as a reporter for the Scranton Times, he was named deputy press secretary to PA Governor Milton J. Shapp. He later served as press secretary to State Health Secretary Leonard Bachman and as public information director for the PA Turnpike. He handled media relations for the White House Conference on Families, the Cuban Exile Program at Fort Indiantown Gap and did weekly political briefs for the Carter White House.
Returning to Scranton, Bob was appointed as Public Relations Director for Mercy Hospital where he served for almost 20 years.
A lifelong member of the Girard College Alumni, Bob remained in close contact with former childhood classmates Jimmy McKendrick and Hank Grabowski and their families. Bob attended Girard’s 60th reunion in May 2018 and cherished his time with his boyhood friends.
He often said he had his 15 minutes of fame many times over. These incidences included covering floods, fires, political upsets, Legionnaire’s Disease, and surviving Three Mile Island. Bob’s nonstop work ethic revolved around Motorola pagers and beepers long before cell phones and 24-hour news cycles became ubiquitous.
He was a man of quiet faith who was most content when walking around Lake Scranton on a sunny day, listening to jazz on his iPod or enjoying a Jameson Manhattan before dinner with his family at one of their favorite restaurants.
Bob loved all things Irish and reveled in his multiple trips to Ireland with Colleen. He had a favorite quote attributed to Irish poet W.B. Yeats: “Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.”
Bob had a quick sense of humor who loved in equal portions his privacy and his family and close friends. He cherished time spent with the Dempsey and Higgins clans at Lake Ariel over the many summers the family spent there, while often being ribbed for being overdressed for the occasion.
Bob settled into his new home in Kentucky in 2016 to be close to Ellen and Matt, loving the warmer weather and friendly new neighbors, including those that he found at the American Legion Hardin Post 113 in Elizabethtown.
Surviving are two daughters, Colleen and fianc William Brown, Cambridge, MA and Ellen and husband Matthew Nystedt, Elizabethtown, KY; a brother, Peter, Moscow; a sister, Mary Kay Schatzman, Albuquerque, NM; and many cousins, nephews and nieces. Also surviving are brothers-in-law Thomas Dempsey and wife Vicki, Oak Island, NC and William Dempsey and wife Nancy, Bow, NH. He was preceded in death by sister-in-law Helen Carson Costello; sister-in-law Ellen Dempsey; brother-in-law Brian P. Dempsey; brother-in-law John Schatzman; son-in-law Vincent DePaul McGraw; and niece Kathleen Dempsey.
The funeral will be Saturday from the Albert P. O’Donnell Funeral Home, 2025 Green Ridge Street, Dunmore with a Mass of Christian Burial at 9:30 A.M. at Saint Paul’s Church, 1510 Penn Avenue, Scranton. Interment Saint Catherine’s Cemetery. Friends may call Friday at the funeral home from 4:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. All those attending the funeral are asked to proceed directly to the church on Saturday. Memorial contributions may be made to the Girard College Foundation, 2101 S. College Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19121 or via girardcollege.edu
Robert M. Costello
March 7, 2026