Theresa Dolores Eickemeyer, 100, of Bronxville, New York, passed away peacefully at the Wartburg Nursing Home on January 25, 2020. Theresa was born and raised in New York City as part of an extended family that included her grandfather, Andrea Blanda, her parents, Emanuele and Giovanna Blanda and her siblings, Filomena and Andrew, who predeceased her.
Theresa never attended college, but remembered with fondness her education at St. Jean Baptiste High School in Manhattan. During her working life, Theresa worked for many years at a jewelry store on the East Side of Manhattan. During her time at the jewelry store, shortly after World War II, she met John H. Eickemeyer Sr., to whom she was married from October 1948 until his death in October 1986. She left the work world in 1955 to care for her first and only child, John H. Eickemeyer. She is survived by John and his wife, Penny, as well as her grandchildren, Jason and Andrew. She is also survived by seven nieces and nephews, and many grandnephews and grandnieces. She was to many of them a “second Mom” and was beloved by all. In addition to raising her own family, she served as a Cub Scout den mother and as a volunteer at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Yonkers, making sure that the altar boys there always had clean and pressed cassocks and surplices.
After her husband’s retirement in 1974, Theresa returned to the work world, taking a job as an account clerk at Sears Roebuck in Mount Vernon, New York, where she worked until her retirement in 1991. In the ensuing years, she devoted her time to caring for her grandchildren during her parents’ work day and enjoying other volunteer and group activities at St. John’s. Theresa moved to Bronxville in 1997, when, at age 78, she became a first-time homeowner at the Brewster-Carver co-op. She continued to live there – in later years with the assistance of several devoted aides – until she moved to the Wartburg in October 2018, at the age of 99. In May 2019, her family and friends joined her there to celebrate her 100th birthday. While dementia in recent years robbed her of some of her memories, she still enjoyed the loving attention of her family and her many friends and neighbors. Until near the end of her life, she continued to enjoy music and to produce many professional-looking knitted garments.
Theresa’s life will be celebrated at a funeral mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, 15 Cedar Street, Bronxville, New York, on Wednesday, January 29, 2020 at 9:45a.m. Visitation will be at Fred H. McGrath & Son Funeral Home, 20 Cedar Street, Bronxville, New York, on Tuesday, January 28, 2020, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the International Rescue Committee, P.O. Box 6068, Albert Lea, MN 56007-9847. Burial at Ferncliff Cemetery will follow immediately after funeral mass.
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