Eleanore Ricciotti

Family and friends are invited for visitation at the Haycock-Cavanagh Funeral Home Reception Centre, 416 Nelson Street in Wallaceburg (directly across from the funeral home) on Friday, May 21 from 2-4pm and 6-8pm. Reservations are required and may be made by clicking here > https://signup.com/go/tzGsgOz < or by calling the funeral home. Masks and social distancing are mandatory. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, in-person funeral services will be private. If you wish to attend the virtual service on Saturday, May 22, 2021 at 11:30am, please contact the funeral home (519-627-3231) for a zoom invitation. Eleanore will be laid to rest at Riverview Cemetery, Wallaceburg. If desired, remembrances to a charity of your choice may be left at the funeral home “Try it! It might be your new favourite!” – Advice from Eleanore on trying new food. And enjoying life. Death finally caught up with Eleanore Ricciotti on May 17, 2021, just four months shy of her 95th birthday. And it caught us by surprise. Partly because her illness was sudden and short. But mostly because we thought our human version of the Energizer Bunny would last forever. Death tried to claim her once before, but she sent him packing. That was back in 1997, when doctor after doctor couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her. Finally they decided she had Mad Cow Disease and told her she’d be gone by Christmas. Well Christmas came and went, but she didn’t. We cheered, held our breath, then went on to celebrate 23 more holiday seasons together. During those decades the size of family gatherings grew and grew until at the time of her passing, she was a true matriarch with six kids (five girls and one boy she always pretended wasn't her favourite, but we knew better), plus 13 grandkids and eight great grands. Eleanore’s proudest achievement was her children. When she met someone new, it wouldn’t be long before she’d embarrass us by exclaiming: “I had six kids!” Yet that would quickly be followed by her other proudest accomplishment as she’d add: “I was a nurse for 42 years!” (And then she might hug them. After her Mad Cow Scare, Eleanore became the Queen of Hugs—until covid took that away from us all.) Being a good nurse and a good mother were both important to Eleanore, an unusual balancing act at a time when women generally chose one or the other. In fact when Eleanore became an RN in Chatham in 1948, nurses were expected to quit when they had kids. That fact didn’t stop Eleanore from marrying the handsome Richard Ricciotti, also from Wallaceburg, and starting a family. He was truly the love of her life and they were inseparable for 67 years. If you asked Eleanore her secret to a long life, she’d shrug and simply say “I’m just stubborn.” We can’t disagree, she was. But her stubbornness was also her strength. She was a strong, determined woman, who knew what she wanted and set out to get it. In her early years, she wanted Richard, marrying him against the strong objections of her parents. When she wanted kids and a career, she figured out how to have both with keen organizational skills. She didn’t let knee surgeries, back surgeries and even heart surgery slow her down. She did her rehab exercises and just kept going. She was unstoppable. Eleanore worked as a nurse in Wallaceburg, her hometown, for close to 20 years. She started as a nurse at factories including Dominion Glass, then nursed at a family doctor’s clinic and later at the Sydenham District Hospital. After the Ricciotti’s moved to Windsor in 1976, she worked at the Metropolitan Hospital in various wards including oncology and obstetrics. She touched many lives and her kids often heard former patients sing her praises. She loved nursing but knowing its sorrows as well as its joys, she discouraged her daughters from following in her footsteps. Yet since she passed her independent streak on to her daughters, they ignored her and three became very successful nurses anyway. Eleanore wasn’t one for rest and relaxation. She was happiest when she was busy and in motion. Kids and a career weren’t enough so she also volunteered. She was a member of the Catholic Women’s League in Wallaceburg and later in Windsor. She was a St. Vincent de Paul volunteer. When her kids were in Brownies, she was a Brown Owl. After retiring she did foot-care volunteer work for seniors. At home, Eleanore couldn’t watch TV without a crochet hook in her hand and what she was creating would often be a gift or afghans for hospitalized seniors. She spent time in her flower and vegetable gardens. Weeds weren’t safe if she was around; humans weren’t very safe either if they got in her path while she was pruning. She was an excellent seamstress. Her daughters remember causing a scene on Sundays when they’d file into the church pew in five little dresses that matched Eleanore’s, all sewn on a well-oiled treadle Singer. She’d try any craft once, including ceramics, hat-making and furniture restoration. And there was also the yard sale phase, getting up early to chase bargains. Oh how she loved bargains, deals and discounts! When not involved with a project, Eleanore was in the kitchen. Her cinnamon/clove-flavoured spaghetti sauce was a favourite; her tuna spaghetti sauce for Fish Fridays, not so much. She canned tomatoes, made jam and froze a winter’s worth of corn on the cob. Her kids never ate store-bought cookies until they left home and her chocolate zucchini bread and buckeyes were legendary. We ate her Christmas fruitcakes because she loved making them, but now we can tell the truth. We never really liked them, sorry Mom … The only time you’d catch Eleanore sitting still was when she was reading or doing a crossword puzzle. In her last years at the Village on the Thames Retirement Residence in Chatham, she kept her daughters busy searching for large print books at the local library. “I’m lost without a book,” she’d say. Maybe the real secret of her long life was she was always willing to try something new. She’d make new recipes, which sometimes didn’t look appealing. “Try it!” she’d say. “It might be your new favourite!” And that was her approach to life. She took aquafit classes in her 70s and learned how to use Facebook in her 80s to stay in touch with extended family. She learned to drive stick-shift in her middle age years (never well, but she learned!). She always wanted to stay part of family activities. Or maybe her real secret was love. Quite simply, she loved Richard and he loved her. They were always together, as a couple or with kids in tow. They took us on many many camping trips, to provincial parks in Ontario and as far as Atlantic Canada. Somehow they took the whole family to Expo ’67 in Montreal. Later they enjoyed learning holidays at Elderhostels and “bridge bus tours”, playing while en route. They travelled to Italy, the homeland of Richard’s family, went to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and sailed the straits of Alaska on a cruise ship. At home they enjoyed simple pleasures: sitting on the porch with after-dinner coffee while watching the birds at the feeder; doing crosswords together; watching movies on NetFlix as Mom crocheted. They’d sing “Bushel and A Peck” as a duet, alternating lines. When Richard died in 2016, Mom was devastated. “He promised me he’d never leave me alone,” she cried. “I was supposed to die first.” But our stubborn, determined Mom found the strength to go on alone. She stayed in Windsor for several years, then moved to a retirement home in Chatham where she could be close to three of her daughters. She adapted and we enjoyed those special years with her. Now Eleanore’s gone to rejoin Richard. Check in on us from time to time, Mom. We’ll do our best to keep making you proud. We’ll carry you in our hearts and keep your memory close. Thanks for all you did for us and now it’s our turn to say: “We love you, A bushel and a peck/A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.” We will miss your love and energy. You did it your way. PS: You never did tell us how you managed to stay wrinkle-free beyond 90!