Eileen O'Connell McCabe Obituary (1933 - 2018)

Eileen O'Connell McCabe, age 85, died peacefully on November 3, 2018, at the Whitney Center in Hamden, Connecticut. She was the wife of the late Donald Sanford McCabe of Caldwell, New Jersey, where she lived for sixty years before moving to Hamden. Don and Eileen raised their family in Caldwell and were very involved in the community. Eileen was a teacher in the Caldwell-West Caldwell public school system for 21 years, served on the Board of Trustees of the Caldwell Public Library, and was a longtime member of the Knollwood Tennis Club. She was a Brownie troop leader and a Cub Scout den mother but, above all, a devoted and loving mom, wife, sister aunt and friend. Eileen is survived by her beloved sister Kate Mellon, her three adoring children Jennifer (Brad) Grisham, Amy (Dean) Baker, and Gavin (Maggie) McCabe, her six grandchildren Conor, David, Gavin, Sarah, Meg and Michael, her sisters-in-law Joan O'Connell and Janet Berrian, and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her brother Maurice O'Connell and her sister Rosemary Offner. Eileen was born on May 11, 1933, in Ticonderoga, New York and was raised in Pottersville, New York at The Wells House, the hotel owned and run by her parents Maurice and Leila O'Connell. She attended high school at the Emma Willard School in Troy, New York, and graduated in 1954 with a teaching degree from Wheelock College in Boston, which is now a part of Boston University. She started her teaching career in Fairfield, Connecticut where she met one her roommates' cousins, Donald, and they married and moved to New Jersey shortly thereafter. Eileen returned to teaching in Caldwell after her own children began school and she continued tutoring for many years after her retirement. Eileen was loved and valued by all for her warmth, kindness, intelligence, and thoughtfulness. A wake for Mrs. McCabe will be held at Paul Ippolito-Dancy Memorial in Caldwell on November 16, 2018 from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and funeral services will be held on November 17, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Peter's Church in Essex Fells, New Jersey. The family asks that in lieu of flowers any donations be directed to the American Lung Association or the Caldwell Public Library Foundation.