Dr. Eileen M. Skelly Frame, age 66, passed away shortly after midnight on Monday, January 13, 2020, following a year-long battle with cancer. She had been in in-home hospice care for one week during which her devoted cat, Xena, was constantly by her side. Her beloved husband, George, was with her at the time of her passing. Her immediate family were able to visit with her over the preceding three days.

Eileen was born in Philadelphia, PA on January 15, 1953, the daughter of Joseph and Helenore (Dochney) Skelly.

She is survived by her husband, Dr. George M. Frame II, sister Margaret Skelly-Nolen (husband John and sons Gregory and Michael), sister Bernadette Skelly-Bedell (husband Dan), and brother, Joseph.

Her family was predominantly Irish American, from Philadelphia and upstate Pennsylvania. She graduated as a scholarship student from the School of the Holy Child, Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania in 1970 and graduated Summa Cum Laude in Chemistry from Drexel University, in Philadelphia, in 1975.

She was the first woman commissioned from Drexel’s Army ROTC program. She served as Medical Service Corps officer in the U.S. Army from 1975 to 1986, rising to the rank of Captain. For the first five years of her military career, Eileen was stationed at the 10th Medical Laboratory at the U.S. Army Hospital in Landstuhl Germany. Thereafter, she was selected to attend a three-year Ph.D program in Chemistry at Louisiana State University. She received her doctorate in 1982 and became the first female Chemistry Professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Following her military service, she joined the General Electric Corporation and supervised the atomic spectroscopy laboratory at GE’s Research and Development Center in Niskayuna, New York. She analyzed practically every stable element in the Periodic Table in support of all company programs. She also held positions as Clinical and Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at both Union College, in Schenectady, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy. She was a 45-year member of the American Chemical Society and served 1 year as the local section Chair. She was the co-author, with her husband, of a 1200-page textbook, Undergraduate Instrumental Analysis. She delivered the draft of a new edition weeks before her death.

She was a proud member of American Legion Post 1450. She was a devoted cat lover. Her favorite was first, Marmalade, an orange and white Tabby, followed by Peanut Butter, who lasted 24 years. She adopted 12 cats from local shelters over the past 35 years.

Eileen was an avid fan of LSU football and was delighted to follow its undefeated season this past year. She just missed LSU’s victory in the national championship game. Eileen and her husband will bequeath the residue of their estate to the LSU Chemistry Department to fund undergraduate scholarships. They had a standing invitation to sit in the Chancellor’s box at any LSU-Alabama game in Death Valley. Alas, it is not to be.
Eileen was always a pushover to be talked into volunteering for any cause, especially professional endeavors. Her husband often got dragged along!

An interment service will be held in the spring at the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery. The funeral urn for her ashes will be placed in the columbarium, eventually to be joined by those of her husband – a USAF veteran of four years’ service. This obituary will be updated once the interment service details are established. This site will also accept condolence messages and tributes.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Saratoga County Animal Shelter or Saratoga Community Hospice.

The family would like to express our deep appreciation for her primary care physician, Dr. Samantha Ludwig, of Latham Medical Group, her oncologist, Dr. Joyce Barlin, of the Woman’s Cancer Center, as well as the many caring and devoted staff at St. Peter's Hospital and Ellis Hospital, who tended to her throughout her illness.