Teresa LaBelle (Ellis) Eisenhauer

Teresa LaBelle (Ellis) Eisenhauer, 90, of Essex, died Monday evening, April 21, 2008 at Beverly Hospital. She was the wife of the late William Albert Eisenhauer, who died in 1979.
Born in Essex on September 18, 1917, she was the daughter of the late Alice Maynard (Andrews) and John Joseph Ellis. She attended Essex High School and Essex Technical College and took extension courses at the University of Lowell. She was forever proud to be a true Essex native.
Teresa worked as a reporter for both the Gloucester Daily Times and the Salem Evening News in the 1950's and 1960's and featured the town and its history in many of her columns. The Essex Historical Society and Shipbuilding Museum have often relied on her articles for research about the town as it was many years ago, the clamming and shipbuilding industries, the railroad and Town Hall were among her favorite topics. Even today she was well known as an                                    Essex historian and people often went
to her to talk about the town as it was when she was growing up. She initiated the proper steps towards elderly housing in town and headed up committees to survey the town                             and its elderly population and
spearheaded local action for the creation of the Essex Housing Authority and the eventual construction of Chebacco Terrace, the town's elderly housing complex. The entrance road into the Terrace was named Eisenhauer Road by the town of Essex. She served for more than 30 years as the state appointee to the Essex Housing Authority. She was one of the original members of the L. Dexter Woodman Scholarship Committee that annually holds "The Taste of Essex" to raise scholarship money for graduating high school seniors. The program for this year's event will be dedicated to her memory in honor of her many years of work.
She was the former Director of Public Assistance and Supervisor of Social Services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare, Region Six, with offices in Essex and Ipswich, retiring in 1978. Mrs. Eisenhauer was known for her charitable service, especially her
dedication to St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Essex where she served on the Parish Council and as a long time member of the Catholic Women's Club. She helped institute the annual Christmas Bazaar and she and her late husband turned the church hall into a winter village for many years. Her chocolate brownies were always sought after on the baked goods table.
She was active as a Corporator at Beverly Hospital, Northeast Health Systems, Cable Emergency Services, the Essex Service Unit for the Salvation Army, and she served on the Board of Directors for the Ipswich Cooperative Bank and the Friends of Caldwell. She was chairman of the American Cancer Society, was a member of the Board of Directors for Action, Inc. and was a member of the Board of Directors for the Bay Area Visiting Nurse Association. She was proud to be appointed by the Essex Board of Selectmen to serve on the Planning Committee for the town's 175th anniversary.
She is survived by her two daughters, Dr. Laurel Eisenhauer of Newton, Professor Emeriti and former assistant dean at Boston College School of Nursing, and Sharon E. Eisenhauer of Essex, former Administrative Aide at Aetna Life and Casualty, her sister, Abby J. Mugridge and her husband, W. Earl Mugridge of Deltona, Fla., her sister-in-law, Mary Eisenhauer of Danvers; a niece, Gretchen Sinnett and her husband, Joseph McMaster of Melrose; nephews, Wayne Eisenhauer of Danvers, Christian Sinnett and his wife, Debra of Oregon, Philip and Larry Strauch of Danvers, Paul Strauch of Boxford, and William Dirring of Atlanta; a grand nephew, Iain McMaster of Melrose; a special cousin, Helen Porper of Gloucester; and her special friends, Sheila and Robert Bodwell of Ipswich, Virginia Woodman of Essex and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Helen Nieberle of Essex and Bethel, Maine.
Funeral services will be held on Friday, April 25, 2008 at 10 a.m. from the Whittier-Porter Funeral Home, 6 High Street, Ipswich followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m. at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 52 Main Street, Essex. Visiting hours are Thursday, April 24, 4 to 8 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Mrs. Eisenhauer's name to St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 52 Main Street, Essex, MA 01929 or to the Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit at Beverly Hospital, 85 Herrick Street, Beverly, MA 01915.