Eileen Coly

Eileen Coly of Greenport passed away in Manhattan Nov. 18, 2013, at the age of 97.

From 1970 until her retirement in 2011, she served as president of the Parapsychology Foundation, which was founded by her mother, Eileen J. Garrett. She continued to share her mother’s vision for the organization, which is to formulate a multi-disciplinary international approach to the study of psychic phenomena with an emphasis on scientific methodology and education.

Born and educated in England, she traveled extensively with her mother, a famed psychic and author. They were separated during World War II and she remained in England, surviving the London Blitz. Settling in the United States in l947, she worked at Creative Age Press and “Tomorrow” magazine before joining the Parapsychology Foundation in 1966. She received the 2001 Parapsychological Association’s Outstanding Career Award “for her generous support and dedication to the science of parapsychology.”

With her French-born husband, Robert R. Coly, now deceased, she raised two children, Lisette and Robert Louis Coly. She is survived by her daughter, Lisette, who continues to run the Parapsychology Foundation in Greenport and Manhattan, as well as her son-in-law, George E. Damalas, and three grandchildren: George Robert Damalas, Anastasia Eileen Damalas and Robert Alan Coly. She had resided in Greenport since 1990.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to the North Fork Animal Welfare League and VNSNY Hospice and Palliative Care, c/o Stefanie Steel, Hospice Development Director, 1250 Broadway, 7th floor, New York, NY 10001.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, Nov. 30, at 11 a.m. at the Parapsychology Foundation Library, 308 Front St., Greenport, NY 11944.

The Rev. Ronald Wickey will officiate. Funeral arrangements are in the care of DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Homes of Southold.

This is a paid notice.