Warminster Free Library Founder Mourned

WARMINSTER TOWNSHIP, PA — The founder of the Warminster Township Free Library has died.

Township officials announced that Mary Jane (McMaster) Courtright passed away in her sleep on May 12. She was 100.

Courtright joined the Federated Women’s Club of Warminster in the late 1950s and was elected president of the group, her obituary stated.

"This visionary inspired the women to establish a community lending library, a mission which culminated in the founding of the Warminster Township Free Library which is still thriving today," township officials said.

Courtright volunteered her time to the library for more than 54 years, including many years serving on the Board of Directors as both president and treasurer.

“Ms. Courtwright’s hard work and advocacy reverberates throughout our library to this day," Library Director Peter Lehu said. "From soliciting donations for the first book collection in 1960 to petitioning for a paid staff and our own building in 1976, Ms. Courtwright has been instrumental in our growth into a vital community institution that the library has seen over the decades. We are receiving generous donations in her honor and are exploring the idea of dedicating part of the building to her.”

Former Warminster Township Supervisor Judy Hoover, a member of the Warminster Free Library Board, said that ever since Lehu was hired, he has made current programs at the library much more up-to-date and made the library more accessible to all.

Hoover said the library is busy all the time, with programs that offer not only reading, but games and writing.

“I believe that all [of this programming] is living up to the founder’s mission," Hoover said.

Courtright was born Aug. 7, 1925, in Camden, N.J., to the late Frank McMaster and Gertrude (Cotter) McMaster. She was preceded in death by her husband Joseph Albert Courtright, her son Michael Francis Courtright and her granddaughter Lindsay Elizabeth Kampman.

She excelled in her educational pursuits graduating first in her class from Camden Catholic High School in 1942. She earned a full scholarship to Georgian Court College, leading to her 1946 graduation with great honor as class vice president with a BS in Chemistry.

She went on to earn two master’s degrees: one in Science Education from Temple University and one in Chemistry from Villanova University.

Ms. Courtright reinvented her career after her husband’s death going from chemist in a lab, to high school chemistry teacher at Council Rock High School. When she started her career she was the only female educator in the science department, and also implemented the AP Chemistry curriculum at the school.

Courtright died in her township home, where her daughter Pat served as her primary caregiver, with support from other family and Happier at Home of Doylestown.

Remembrances in her name may be made to The Warminster Township Free Library or Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church.