PULLMAN, Wash.--Elinor Florence McCloskey, longtime Pullman resident and retired school librarian, died Friday afternoon December 12, 2025, in Pullman. She was 92.

At her request, no funeral or memorial service will be held.

Elinor was born June 18, 1933, in New York City to Gordon E. and Florence A. (Haven) McCloskey, graduates of Lock Haven (Penn.) State Teachers

College.

Elinor's earliest years were spent in Ridgewood, N.J.; Montevallo, Montgomery and Birmingham, Ala.; Atlanta, Ga.; and McLean Va., where her parents worked.

In 1947 the family moved to Pullman after her father accepted a faculty

position with then Washington State College's Department of Education.

As a teenager, Elinor helped her father construct their house––one of the first in

the Skyline Drive neighborhood on Sunnyside Hill.

She recalled as a child she was hyperactive and her parents tried to make sure there was green space near the family home so she had that area to play.

In 2015, Elinor gave 2.5 acres of wild land below her house and above the pond in Sunnyside Part to the City of Pullman with management of that wild land to be held by the Palouse Land Trust. It is preserved for the children of Pullman and the birds and small animals that live there, to be theirs forever.

Elinor was on the staff of Pullman High School's student newspaper Hi Times and active in chorus and drama club. She graduated with the PHS Class of 1951. Later that building was named to honor longtime PHS Principal Oscar E. Gladish.

At WSC, Elinor joined Delta Gamma sorority and was a four-year member of the Chinook yearbook staff. In 1955 she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Education. Elinor also earned Master of Arts in Librarianship from University of Denver, Colo., in 1958, and a Doctor of Education from Teachers College Columbia University in New York City in

1966.

She said in her youth she had taken piano lessons and as a new teacher, she was excited to share her love of music with her students. Her teaching assignment included Selah, Yakima, Seattle/Lake City, Kirkland, and Baumholder American Elementary School in Germany. She retired as Albuquerque, N.M., Public Schools Librarian in 1995.

Elinor enjoyed taking part in Neill Public Library's Stories of the Season Storyhour. Her service to the library began when, as a teenager, she read to children often (because she was able to manage the youngsters' energy.)

Elinor was a member of League of Women Voters of Pullman, American Association of University Women, Friends of Neill Public Library and Fortnightly book club.

Over the years, Gordon and Florence's active support of Pullman schools

earned them the honor of "Mr. and Mrs. Levy." He helped with public relations in

all levy elections, and was instrumental in passing levies to build Pullman's

Memorial Hospital, and the fire and police department buildings.

To honor her parents, Elinor established the Gordon E. and Florence

McCloskey Memorial Scholarship in the Washington State University College of

Education.

Her close friends thank Nancy and Lucy and others at the Carolstar care home for the attention and friendship they provided Elinor.

Memorial gifts may be made in Elinor's name to Neill Public Library or a favorite charity. Corbeill Funeral Home, Pullman, WA has been entrusted with arrangements.  Online condolences may be sent to www.corbeillfuneralhomes.com