Windber, Pennsylvania - EASH - Violette C., age 81, of Windber, Pennsylvania passed away at home, surrounded by family, on Aug. 15, 2025. Born Oct. 6, 1943, in Hollsopple, PA, she was predeceased by her parents, John E. and Rose (Moranduzzo) Eash; brother, Larry, along with his wife Bernice (Hershberger) Eash, and their infant daughter; brother-in-law, John Blough; sister-in-law, Wilma (Berkey) Eash; and great-nephew, Johnny Blough. Survived by brother, John Eash; sister, Arbutus Blough; these nieces and nephews: Cecile (Eash) Hyjurick, Adrienne (Eash) Punako, Johanna (Eash) Blough, Jessica (Eash) Reto, Gwendolyn (Eash) Kautz, Denise (Eash) Burkhard, Douglas Eash, Diane (Blough) Bridge, Martin Blough, Melissa (Blough) Siracusa, and Amanda Blough; along with numerous great-nieces and nephews and extended family. Violette developed juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in early childhood and spent much time in Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh along with other rehabilitation facilities. She had homebound education until ninth grade due to the unavailability of building access at that time. First grade was completed at Children's Hospital and eighth grade at the then IHCC in Pittsburgh. The intervening years consisted of in-home tutoring. Various students, including some members of the football team, helped her up and down steps from her first day in school in ninth grade through her senior year and graduation at Conemaugh Township High School in Davidsville, Pennsylvania. She enjoyed her classroom experiences and continued on to the University of Pittsburgh, from where she received a bachelor's degree in psychology, and a master's degree in special education and rehabilitation in 1968. She was on the counseling staff of the then Pennsylvania Rehabilitation Center (now Hiram G. Andrews) in Johnstown for five years until 1972 when she left to pursue her doctorate in counseling and educational psychology at Penn State main campus. Having become bilingual in Spanish, while taking university classes, her research centered on Spanish-speaking populations in Pennsylvania. She moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to begin her research, and from 1974-1977 held a private practice to help meet the mental health needs of the Hispanic community in Dauphin County and that district of the Church of the Brethren. She graduated with a Ph.D. from Penn State in 1978. As a doctoral student, Dr. Eash taught for two years at Penn State before accepting an offer for a tenure track position in counseling and rehabilitation at Marshall University located in Huntington, West Virginia, in 1978. She retired from Marshall in 2014 as a full professor. She loved teaching and received numerous awards for teaching excellence; one as a Penn State alumna and one from Marshall as a recipient of the Marshall and Shirley Reynolds teaching award. Dr. Eash was honored by Pilot Club International and received their Handicapped Professional Woman of the Year award during ceremonies held in Honolulu, HI, in 1984. Also, in 1984, she was named to the National Hall of Fame for Disabled Persons. During her tenure at Marshall, she specialized in addictions treatment in both West Virginia and Kentucky. Violette consulted with DUI schools, with in-patient and out-patient programs, and all forms of addiction. She lectured frequently for conferences and presented many workshops in addiction locally and nationally. This included travel to the Bahamas where she presented a lecture in counseling for the Organization of American States. She traveled to Honolulu where she did a presentation for an international conference in counseling. In addition to her full-time teaching position, her community service included 10 years as a volunteer with the American Red Cross traveling to disaster areas providing mental health service for the volunteers on disaster sites. Her experiences in disaster mental health included a train wreck, chemical spills, massive apartment fires, floods in the Midwest, and related calamities. She also taught disaster mental health for the Red Cross and became a supervisor on some disaster sites. Having dedicated his book "Medical Information For Human Service Workers" to Dr. Eash, Kenneth W. Hylbert, professor of the counseling education program at Penn State wrote, "It is with pleasure that this book is dedicated to a former student who has demonstrated the courage and perseverance to overcome catastrophic disability. Her success in the battle to live, to learn to walk, to educate herself, to become a fully independent professional person making significant contributions to her field - may be attributed to an indomitable spirit and to the efforts of family, physicians, therapists, friends and others who shared her efforts over the years." As one of her many outside interests, which included tatting, dabbling in calligraphy, and a button collection that gained world-wide attention, she studied voice in the Johnstown area for several years. Vi, as she was known to her family, friends and colleagues, was an active member and ordained elder of First Presbyterian Church in Huntington, where she was frequently a vocalist and adult Sunday school teacher. Upon her retirement and returning to her Pennsylvania roots, she joined and later became an elder at St Paul's Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Somerset, PA. As her final contribution to the field of teaching, her wish was to donate her body for the study of severely crippling arthritis. The family is grateful for the compassionate and dedicated care provided by all her caregivers and the Windber Hospice personnel. Violette's faithful daily and unwavering walk with Jesus was an inspiration to everyone who knew her. A Celebration of Life will be held at St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, 1845 N. Center Ave., Somerset, PA on Saturday, Aug. 30, at 11 a.m. with Pastor Mike Dunlap, officiating. Violette would be pleased that memorial contributions be made to Children's Hospital, 4401 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15224, or a children's charity of your choice. To leave condolences for the family please visit www.georgemasonfuneralhome.com.