Marjorie E. Esdaile Nursing Scholarship Fund

Marjorie Ellen Esdaile, born in Brooklyn, New York on January 22, 1932 to Lawrence Gomez, Sr. and Agnes Mary Lopes departed this life after a long challenging medical battle at Yale New Haven Hospital on December 1, 2020. She attended Bridgeport and Stratford Connecticut Public schools. As a teenager, she married George W. Walters Sr. and had two sons, Lawrence William Walters (Chickie) and George William Walters, Jr. (Jerry). As young parents, the couple separated. At the age of twenty-one, as a single mother, living in the PT Barnum public housing development, she worked as a Psychiatric Aide at Fairfield Hills Psychiatric Hospital in Newtown, Connecticut until 1961working to make ends meet and toward her personal goals.

She married Luther Esdaile in 1960 and the family moved to Lander Street in the Newhallville neighborhood in New Haven, CT. Of that union, two children were born, Marjorie Carlah Esdaile and Scot Esdaile. Within her family values, she raised her children as one unit, there was no separation. They were both committed to obtaining the best out of life for themselves and their children. They had shared aspirations and worked hard to obtain them. They enjoyed life. They traveled to support family and friends and hosted many family gatherings.

She worked as a program coordinator for the very first established head start early childhood development program for the City of New Haven. During that time, she attended night school at James Hillhouse High School and graduated in 1969 earning her high school diploma alongside her son Jerry.  She later went on to graduate from the Grace New Haven Hospital Nursing Program (currently known as Yale New Haven Hospital) as a Licensed Practical Nurse in 1971 at the top one percent of her class and served as a nurse for over 40 years. She retired from the Jewish Home of the Aged.

She always made the family her priority. She worked the night shift in order to be available for her children during the day for her entire nursing career. She graduated from South Central Community College (now Gateway Community College) earning an Associate’s Degree in Psychology and attended Goddard College in Vermont furthering her studies. Higher education was very important to her and she instilled that belief into her children, family and community children. She lived a life of service. This was ingrained in her as a child growing up with her grandmother that provided foster care to many children over many years.

She was a parent advisor for the St Luke’s Parish Young People’s Fellowship. She was a strong supporter of the Church Men’s Club, supporting her husband by hosting many membership meetings in their home. She was actively involved in her children’s school and extracurricular activities including the PTA, Sports Booster programs and was a member of the Parents Against Drug Addiction Assn in the 1970’s. She served on many civic groups that focused on uplifting the community and youth leadership and development. She served on the Greater New Haven NAACP Criminal Justice Committee and supervised monitoring Judges and District Attorneys with the NAACP’s Sentencing Disparities Initiative.  She worked on the Esdaile Family Reunion committees for several years and hosted a Lopes Family Reunion in her home bringing the family together to get to know one another after many years of disconnection.

Through challenges, like most families experienced, she lived her truth and demonstrated that “Each One Must Teach One”. We laugh as we remember telling her that she had no filter, but her honesty was admirable. She was the person in any room who welcomed the new person with open arms and a big smile, who introduced that person to everyone in the room and made everyone feel comfortable. She was so caring and loving. Her cousins and best friends describe her as a giving person, a forgiving person, fun and full of laughter. High Fashion was her signature. Her co-workers describe her as being a hard worker, kind and compassionate, she always put her patients first. No excuses. That’s how she ran her unit. She would go the extra mile, to ensure that her patients received the best care and wanted for nothing. She promoted quality care on her floor within her shift but also pushed to ensure that same high level of quality on the other shifts as well. She walked the floors and personally checked the rooms to ensure patient care was maintained. She provided quality training.  Her level of ethics was infallible. She not only worked one full time position, but held multiple part time positions simultaneously. She served as a role model to many.