Eleanor Mary Whitcomb, of New Castle, Pennsylvania, passed away peacefully at her home on the evening of Tuesday, May 6, 2026, at the age of eighty-six, surrounded by her three children and the youngest of her seven grandchildren.
Eleanor was born June 4, 1939, in Pittsburgh, the only daughter of Frances and Howard Bingham. She graduated from Pittsburgh Allderdice High School in 1957 and from Slippery Rock State College with a degree in elementary education in 1961, the first in her family to attend college.
She moved to New Castle in 1962 with her husband, Robert Whitcomb, whom she married at First Presbyterian Church on a bright Saturday in June. They settled into a small white house on Wallace Avenue and raised three children there: David, born 1964; Catherine, born 1966; and Susan, born 1969. Eleanor was widowed in 2007, when Robert passed away after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.
For thirty-two years, Eleanor taught fourth grade at Highland Elementary School. Generations of New Castle children — many of whom are now grandparents themselves — remember her as the teacher who read aloud from The Wind in the Willows after lunch on Fridays, who insisted on perfect cursive and quiet correction, who told her students she expected them to grow up to be the kind of people who would help a stranger change a tire. She retired in 1996, the same week the school dedicated its library reading nook in her name.
Eleanor was an active member of First Presbyterian Church for sixty-four years. She sang alto in the chancel choir from 1962 until her health no longer allowed it in 2024, and even then continued to attend rehearsal whenever she was able. She served three terms on the session, taught Sunday school, organized the Wednesday-night supper rotation for two decades, and was a member of the Presbyterian Women's Bible study from its founding in 1973.
She loved her grandchildren without remainder. She read to each of them, baked with each of them, and sent each of them — without fail — a typed letter on the first day of every school year, with an old-fashioned dollar bill folded inside.
Survivors
Eleanor is survived by her three children and their spouses: David Whitcomb (Mary) of Cleveland, Ohio; Catherine Whitcomb-Reilly (Thomas) of Pittsburgh; and Susan Whitcomb (Mark Donovan) of New Castle. She is also survived by seven grandchildren — Joseph, Andrew, Hannah, Caroline, Eleanor, James, and Theodore — and one great-granddaughter, Rose, born February 2026, with whom she got to spend two precious months. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Robert, and her younger brother William Bingham.
Photographs
Service Information
The visitation will be held on Friday, May 13, 2026, from 5:00 to 8:00 PM at the Hartwell & Sons Funeral Home, 123 Main Street, New Castle, Pennsylvania. The funeral service will follow on Saturday, May 14, 2026, at 11:00 AM in the Hartwell chapel, with burial immediately afterward at Greenwood Cemetery.
The Rev. Caroline McAvoy of First Presbyterian Church of New Castle will officiate. Eleanor's grandchildren will serve as pallbearers. The chancel choir of First Presbyterian will sing. The service will be live-streamed for distant family members; the link will be posted to this page on the morning of May 14.
Directions to Greenwood Cemetery: From I-376 take exit 19 (New Castle North), turn left onto State Route 168 for 2.1 miles, then right on Cemetery Road. Greenwood is on the right.
Memorial Donations
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be directed to the Lawrence County Historical Society (408 N Jefferson Street, New Castle, PA 16101), where Eleanor served as a docent for fifteen years; or to the Highland Elementary School Library Fund, in care of the New Castle Area School District.