Agnes Costigan

A resident of Springfield, VA since 2004, passed away peacefully on July 14, 2016. The cause was complications from kidney failure and congestive heart failure according to her son, Thomas E. Costigan Jr., of Falls Church, VA.

Agnes was born in West Hempstead, NY in 1925 in the very same house she would reside in for the next 78-plus years. She married Thomas Eugene Costigan Sr. of Richmond Hill, NY in 1956 and they were married for over 51 years when he passed away in March of 2008. Her passing came exactly 35 years after the passing of her mother, Agnes M. Schoebel. As a young girl, she was provided with piano lessons by her parents Henry and Agnes Schoebel. Following graduation from Hempstead High School, she attended Immaculata College in suburban Philadelphia, the Julliard School of Music (where she was a piano / voice major), and then Adelphi College where she received her BA in music in 1949. She then attended Teachers College of Columbia University in the City of New York and obtained her MA in music and music education in 1950. She taught elementary school music in Plainedge, NY during the 1950s and in Long Beach, NY from the early 1970s through the mid-1990s. She had stepped away from formal education in 1957 to raise her only son, Thomas Jr. During her entire adult life, however, she gave piano lessons to hundreds of children and adults from her in-home studio consisting of two up-right pianos, one baby grand piano, and later (when the technology came about) an electronic piano. In 2004, Agnes and her husband Thomas Sr. moved from Agnes'' life-long home in West Hempstead, NY to the Greenspring Retire ment Village in Springfield, VA to be closer to their son Thomas Jr., his wife Donna Lucile Buchness, and their grandson Nolan Thomas Costigan, all of whom live in Falls Church, VA. Agnes continued to play the piano during her retirement years. As an active member of the Greenspring Catholic Community, she played the piano at weekly Mass and she gave gratis piano lessons to the residents of Greenspring, as well as to the staff and their children, during her 12-plus years at Greenspring.

She is survived by her older brother Henry Schoebel of Peabody, MA and was pre-deceased by her sister Alice Mineur of Hilton Head, SC and her brother John Schoebel of Ballston Spa, NY. She is also survived by dozens of nephews and nieces along with their spouses and children; as well Lucy''s four sisters and their children whom she treated like her own grandchildren.

Visitation will be on Monday, July 18, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Demaine Funeral Home, 5308 Backlick Rd, Springfield, VA. A Funeral Mass will be held on Tuesday, July 19, at 11 a.m. at Saint Raymond of Peñafort Roman Catholic Church, 8750 Pohick Rd, Springfield, VA. Following cremation, there will be a Memorial Mass on Monday, August 8, at 11 a.m. at Saint Thomas the Apostle Roman Catholic Church (12 Westminster Rd, West Hempstead, NY), followed by burial at Holy Rood Cemetery in Westbury, NY. For additional information on all events, please write to [email protected] (monitored by the family).

In lieu of other considerations, the family is requesting that a contribution be made in her name to the general scholarship fund of Adelphi University, Development Office, One South Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530.In lieu of other considerations, the family is requesting that a contribution be made in her name to the general scholarship fund of Adelphi University, Development Office, One South Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530.