Robert M. Costello

Robert M. Costello, 86, of Elizabethtown, died peacefully on Saturday, March 7, 2026, at Kensington Center. He was predeceased by his wife of 47 years, the former Anne E. Dempsey.

Born on February 11, 1940, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Bob was the son of the late Peter F. and Catherine Meehan Costello. A 1958 graduate of Girard College in Philadelphia, where he excelled in writing and music, he went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in English from the University of Scranton in 1963. While in college, he played acoustic and electric bass in local bands to help support himself. An Army veteran, he served on the General Staff at I Corps in Uijeongbu, Korea, and in Heidelberg, Germany, from 1963 to 1966.

His long career in communications and public service began as a reporter and editorial assistant for the Catholic Light, where he met his future wife. He later served as press secretary to Scranton Mayor James J. Walsh, public relations director for the Scranton Redevelopment Authority, and a reporter for the Scranton Times. He was named deputy press secretary to Pennsylvania Governor Milton J. Shapp, then served as press secretary to the state health secretary and public information director for the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Bob also managed media relations for the White House Conference on Families, the Cuban Exile Program at Fort Indiantown Gap, and provided weekly political briefs for the Carter White House. He returned to Scranton to become public relations director for Mercy Hospital, a position he held for nearly two decades. Known for his tireless work ethic, he embraced the demands of his profession long before cell phones and constant news cycles were common.

A man of quiet faith, Bob found his greatest contentment walking around Lake Scranton on sunny days while listening to jazz. He cherished his Irish heritage and treasured his trips to Ireland with his daughter Colleen. He possessed a quick sense of humor and held equal affection for his privacy and for the family and close friends who surrounded him. In 2016, he moved to Kentucky to be near his daughter Ellen and son-in-law Matt, where he enjoyed the warmer climate and the friendly neighbors he found at the American Legion Hardin Post No. 113 in Elizabethtown.

He is survived by his daughters, Colleen and her fiancé William Brown of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Ellen and her husband Matthew Nystedt of Elizabethtown; a brother, Peter of Moscow; a sister, Mary Kay Schatzman of Albuquerque, New Mexico; and many cousins, nephews, and nieces. He is also survived by two brothers-in-law, Thomas Dempsey and his wife Vicki of Oak Island, North Carolina, and William Dempsey and his wife Nancy of Bow, New Hampshire. He was preceded in death by his 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.