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Former Pa. first lady Ellen Casey has died at 91

Gov. Josh Shapiro has ordered flags on state facilities, public buildings and grounds to fly at half-staff in Ellen Casey’s honor.

Former Pennsylvania first lady Ellen Casey, center, with (from left) Terese Casey, Sen. Bob Casey, former Senator Pat Toomey, and his wife Kris Toomey at the President's Reception prior to the 112th Annual Pennsylvania Society Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in NYC in 2010.
Former Pennsylvania first lady Ellen Casey, center, with (from left) Terese Casey, Sen. Bob Casey, former Senator Pat Toomey, and his wife Kris Toomey at the President's Reception prior to the 112th Annual Pennsylvania Society Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in NYC in 2010.Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
    by Janet Pickel, Tribune News Service
    Published 

Ellen Casey, the widow of Pa. Gov. Robert Casey and mother of U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, died Friday in Scranton, her son announced on X, formerly Twitter.

Casey Jr. said his mother died after a brief illness. She was 91.

Democrat Robert Casey was governor from 1987 to 1995. He died in 2000. He and Ellen Casey were married for 50 years and had eight children. Survivors include grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well.

Current Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro has ordered flags on state facilities, public buildings and grounds to fly at half-staff in Ellen Casey’s honor.

“Ellen was an ambassador for the commonwealth and her beloved home of Scranton. Like Governor Casey, she made family, health, and children part of her life’s work,” first lady Lori Shapiro said in a news release. “Her work to raise awareness around breast cancer, literacy and so much more made the lives of countless Pennsylvanians better.”

Ellen Casey was a liberal arts graduate of Marywood College in Scranton.

In 1990, The Patirot-News wrote that “officials in both the public and private sector credit her with bringing the literacy issue to the forefront in Pennsylvania and say her involvement has given many people the encouragement to learn how to read.”

In that story, John Christopher, director of the Education Department’s Division of Adult Basic and Literacy Education, described her as “a tremendous plus in helping the overall adult education program in Pennsylvania.”

”Mrs. Casey has been tremendous assisting in the adult literacy effort,” he said. “She has been to many graduations. She has been to prisons, and she has been to hospitals, meeting with the people. She even had a reception for 10 outstanding students last year.”