Mary K. Gentry-Bartko

Mary Kathryn Gentry-Bartko, age 89, died June 14, 2026, one day before her birthday, at Green Ridge Village, Newville, PA. She was born in Mullens, West Virginia, the only child of Kathryn and Charles Gentry. Her mother was a home economics teacher and her father was a steam locomotive engineer for the Virginian Railroad, hauling coal out of the West Virginia Mountains to Norfolk Virginia.

After graduating high school, she attended Juniata College earning a degree in Chemistry. After graduating she went to Washington, D.C. and worked for the Walter Reed US Army Institute of Research, where she was second in command in the Division of Biochemistry, managing PhDs and Colonels. She worked on and developed monoclonal antibodies and chemical defense warfare, earning her several patents. Chemical defense was critical regarding the war in Iraq.

She traveled to Italy and Thailand giving training lectures. She had more than ninety professional peer-reviewed publications, and more than one hundred professional presentations at scientific conferences.

She enjoyed cooking but could never make a pie crust to her satisfaction. Her kitchen was patterned after her laboratory. She was an excellent calligrapher, enjoyed classes at the fitness center and at the Kitchen Shop in Carlisle.

She worked in the Green Ridge Village gift shop, the thrift shop and worked tirelessly on versions of The Green Book and was a marketing ambassador. She enjoyed 16 Road Scholar tours. She was a member of First Lutheran Church in Carlisle.

She was a student in John Bartko’s statistics classes at the National Institute of Health Graduate School. She dated John after she finished the courses. She always said it was easier to marry a statistician than to become one! John always said he married his best student.

She is survived by her husband John Bartko of 46 years. Pokoj v nebi, Mary Kay (Slovak for peace in heaven)

A memorial service will be held at First Lutheran Church in Carlisle on Thursday, June 25, 2026, at 11am. There will be a vistation from 10am until the time of the service.  A celebration of life will be held later at Green Ridge Village. Burial will take place at Indian Gap National Cemetery.

Contributions may be made to Green Ridge Village, Project Share, WITF or WRTI.

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