Martin Joseph Cosgrove, Sr. passed peacefully on June 26, 2023 in the late afternoon. He was at home as he had requested with his wife and eldest son at his bedside.
Martin was born in South Philadelphia on Nov. 17, 1938. He was the third child of the late Hilary Andrejczyk and Martin Cosgrove, both second generation immigrants. Martin was baptized at Sacred Heart where he attended elementary school and was an Acolyte. He continued to Bishop Newman High School, then to St. Josephs College where he excelled in the pre-medicine curriculum, class of 1960. Martin attended Jefferson Medical College receiving his medical degree in 1964. He secured a rotating internship at Queen of Angels hospital in Los Angeles and moved from home at the age of 26 for the first time. Finances and determination had kept him at home through medical school. After graduating internship, Martin entered active duty in the U.S. Navy under the Berry Plan. He was stationed in Long Beach, CA and Norfolk, VA and went to sea on the USS Francis Marion (APA-249) and USS Magoffin (APA-199) during the Vietnam War. At the conclusion of his service, Martin went back to Los Angeles as a general practitioner for Kaiser Permanente. He did this for several years until his father became ill. Martin secured residency training in Radiology at the University of Maryland in 1970. His first two sons were born during training, then he took his first Radiology position at Nanticoke Hospital where he would remain for his entire career. His daughter was born a few years after.
Martin loved being a doctor and he was an excellent radiologist. Oddly, his residency choice was one of opportunity, as he was outside the match and delayed from his Naval service and GP work, but the choice fit him perfectly. He was an academic and loved to read. Over his 40 years in the field, Martin saw amazing leaps in technology and equipment which he had to implement into his diagnostic practice, paradigm shifts in the field, which were constant. He often said that there was never a day that he didn’t look forward to going to work.
In addition to the practice of medicine, Martin carried many other duties like holding the chair of his department for decades, Medical Director of the Radiologic technology school of Delaware Technical College, and President of the Sussex County Medical Society. His involvement in medical administration and politics grew leading to serving as delegate to the AMA several times, Chairman of the Medical Staff of Nanticoke 1981-82, President of the Medical Society of Delaware 1987-88, and a lengthy Chairmanship of the Board of Directors for Nanticoke Health Services 1995-2004, a position not typically held by a physician. He retired from active practice in 2006.
Martin was a caring and devoted husband, father, and friend. He celebrated and preached incessantly on the importance of family and education. Despite having limited time, he attended every event he could for immediate and extended family. Martin was intensely patriotic and savored the progression his family made in just a few generations living the ‘American Dream.’ He had a mental binder of lectures that he believed so fervently and recanted so often, that his children could finish every one. Martin loved to travel, particularly to the coast. He enjoyed food and cooking, wine, and even some Tullamore Dew. Martin achieved great satisfaction from hours of heavy yardwork and loved being outside. He had a deep attachment to Philadelphia and would visit almost monthly. Martin loved the Navy and his time in uniform, also shared by his children and grandchildren who he inspired to serve.
In retirement he rekindled relationships from his Alma Maters, the Navy days and became quite involved with The Second Street Irish Society from his old neighborhood in South Philadelphia. Martin marched in many St. Patrick’s Day Parades with his children and grandchildren, the largest and last in 2022 when eight McGuigans and Cosgroves marched with him.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his eldest sister, Francis McGuigan of Arlington, Va. who passed away in 2015. Martin is survived by his devoted wife of 17 years, Joyce; three children Martin (Rachel) of Seaford; Michael (Amy) of Huntsville, AL and Noriss Kurtz (Mark) of Wilmington; nine grandchildren, Bridget, Caroline and Martin of Seaford, Michael Jr., Madeline, and Maxwell of Huntsville, AL, Hudson, Connor and Ainsley Kurtz of Wilmington; and his older sister Kathleen McGuigan of Haddonfield, NJ.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions in Martin’s memory to the Wounded Warriors Project, or to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday, July 17 at 11 a.m. at St. Jude The Apostle Catholic Church, 152 Tulip Drive, Lewes, where friends may visit beginning at 10 a.m. A celebration of life will follow at Irish Eyes in Lewes from 12:15 to 3 p.m.
Chapel Committal Services with military honors will be held on Tuesday, July 18 at 11 a.m. at Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 26669 Patriots Way in Millsboro.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Parsell Funeral Homes and Crematorium, Atkins-Lodge Chapel in Lewes.
Please visit Martin’s Life Memorial Webpage and sign his virtual guestbook at www.parsellfuneralhomes.com.