"I have struggled for a while without success in trying to figure out how to express the heaviness in our hearts due to this terrible news! Oh, Eileen, we will dearly miss you!! While grieving, we are also consoled by the fact that Eileen had a very impactful life, and her impacts transcended continental boundaries; my family is a testimony to that. Both John & Eileen wonderfully made families beyond continents, race and faith. What an amazing life she lived! May our gracious God comfort and strengthen John & rest of the family in these truly difficult times. Even though Eileen is gone, she will forever be in our hearts!! Dwomoh family (Ghana/Brookings, South Dakota)"
In loving memory of
Eileen S. Stanturf
December 2, 1951 - February 28, 2023
Eileen S. Stanturf
Eileen's funeral service will be Tuesday, March 7th, 11 AM at the funeral home, 1411 Vintage Lane, (Between 390 & Long Pond Rd.). Private interment will be in the spring at Ithaca Calvary Cemetery. Those wishing may make contributions to a charity of choice in Eileen's memory.
Eileen Sullivan Stanturf, 71, passed away peacefully on 28 February 2023 from complications associated with frontotemporal dementia at Edna Tina Wilson Long-Term Care Facility in Rochester, New York. She is survived by her husband of 45 years, Dr. John Stanturf of Rochester; daughter Colleen Stanturf of Davis, CA; grandchildren, Randy Stanturf, Mankato, MN, grandmother "Nanny" to Julia Hwang, Eileen Hwang of Seoul, South Korea, & Stanturf Dwomoh of Brookings, SD; sisters Christine (Michael) Dropinski of Boulder, CO; Anita Sullivan of Lansing, NY; Francine (Robert Pollotta) Sullivan of Rochester, NY; brothers Marc (Donna) Sullivan of Raymond, NH; Matthew (Cherie) Sullivan of Lansing, NY; numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. She is predeceased by her parents, Francis and Helen Sullivan and son Jeremy Stanturf.
Eileen attended elementary and junior high schools in Ithaca, NY and Lansing, NY high school after the family moved to the Lansing Gun Club. She is a graduate of Tompkins Cortland Community College, Dryden, NY, which provided her the opportunity to visit Russia at the beginning of Détente in the early 1970s. Throughout her life, she worked primarily in administrative jobs, including Department Secretary, Natural Resources, Cornell University in Ithaca where she earned the nickname "The Little General." It was at Cornell where she met and married John in 1977. Eileen also worked at Ithaca College and the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. Eileen and John spent a year in Haifa, Israel at the Technion.
Eileen touched numerous lives in many ways through her volunteer activities. She tutored English in Haifa and taught English as a Second Language in Athens, GA. She chaired the Greenville, MS, Make a Difference Day Committee for several years. But her passion was mentoring women. She led the Bradford, PA chapter of Women's Aglow, and the Women's Ministry at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Greenville, MS. She started a Christian Women's Book Club in Athens and a nursing home ministry there.
Eileen was a loving wife, step-mother, and grandmother. A woman of great integrity and strong character, Eileen had a deep and abiding faith in Jesus Christ. She was a confidante and mentor to many young women and her best friend was her mother, Helen. Above all, she valued her family, immediate and extended. Although she thought of herself as a small-town girl, she made homes for her and John in Ithaca; Haifa, Israel, Warren, Bradford, and State College, PA; Savannah and Athens, GA; and Greenville, MS before retiring to Rochester in 2017. Despite her allergies, she mothered two cats (Shalom and Marble) and four Golden Retrievers (Snickers, Daisy, Denver, and Connemara). Eileen didn't really like to travel but besides moving around the country, she visited Finland and Russia; Mexico; Canada; South Korea; Germany; Austria; Denmark; Estonia; Ireland; and England, Scotland, and Wales. She was loved and will be remembered by many people around the world.
Tributes
"so many memories of our dear friend and neighbor along the way espically with John and of course Mara, many walks and talks and yes so many laughs. Now reading and learning about this most gifted person we thought we knew, what a great person she was and living a beautiful full filling life, Rest in Peace, dear friend, you fought the fight and still was able to show us how strong you were. There is a time and that is now, when you can't find the words, GOD HEARS YOUR HEART, we love you and will never forget you,, Eileen love Barb and Tom Bishhop"
"John and all of Eileen?s family: I knew Eileen from EBC , Greenville MS. She was one of a kind. Very faithful in her church , loved her friends, mentored all those that came to her. At EBC she was very much loved and will be missed by all that knew her. I?m sorry for your loss John. I lost my husband to dementia so know what a loss it is. I pray God stays close and gives you comfort during this time of grief and celebration for the life she had. Hugs. "
"Hmmm let me think! Eileen reminds me most of Aunt Helen. Both in beauty and whit! Eileen was most like Aunt Helen in my eyes , with a twist of my grandfather hand her father his twin. Uncle Fran. I most remember her always having words of advice. She followed in Aunt Helen?s footsteps there. They both gave me words of advice over the years. Between Eileen, Aunt Helen , Aunt Polly and my Grandmother Marge?. I honestly listened. It took me a while? I will be honest there. But I eventually listened. I can remember Eileen from a very young age when our family reunions were still at the Fish and Game Club. I can remember the big canvas tent Uncle Fran rented. I remember through out the year Eileen and John attending as many reunions even after it was moved to my parents house! In Enfield NY. There also were so many get togethers in Jacksonville NY at Aunt Polly and Uncle Don?s . Eileen in my eyes was so not just a cousin once removed but another Aunt to me. I will truly miss her. Her words of wisdom will always be with me. "