Obituary of Eleanor Corwin Park

Eleanor Louise Park, nee Corwin, passed away peacefully at her home on January 30th at the age of 93.  Ellie loved life and cherished her family and friends.  She was a graduate of Verona High School and Newark State Teacher's College with a degree in elementary education. She was an enthusiastic teacher of kindergarten and first grade children at Demarest School in Bloomfield. She met her husband Jack the summer before they began college while they were working at Montclair's Louis Harris department store.  She loved to tell the story that he took her dancing to the Astor Roof in New York City on their first date.  She loved to dance and made her future husband take dancing lessons before they married in 1949.  She was a Montclair resident for over sixty years as well as a dedicated member of the Upper Montclair Women's Club where she was a longtime member of their Bowling League.  She was a devout member of Union Congregational Church, Montclair Art Museum, Montclair Historical Society and Bradford Tennis Club. Ellie and Jack married in the historic Marlboro Inn and shared a loving marriage together.  They built a vacation home at Eastman Community in New Hampshire near Dartmouth College in 1979 where they enjoyed skiing, golf, tennis and canoeing on the lake with their children, grandchildren and friends.  Ellie and Jack had great fun attending Dartmouth reunions for the class of 1948 and maintained special friendships with his classmates and their wives.  Ellie loved to travel and circled the globe with Jack for many years from Paris to Peru.  She also was an avid bridge and tennis player. Another passion was cooking everything from pot roast to her famous cheesecake, grasshopper pie and lemon bars.  She loved to feed people and entertain.  She is predeceased by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Philip Corwin of Verona and Ship Bottom, her loving husband Jack who died in 2005 and her wonderful daughter Nancy who died on Palm Sunday 2015. She is survived by her daughter Patricia Park Connell of Bloomfield, her son Robert W. Park and his wife Melissa of Fairfield Connecticut, her son-in-law Stephen McGlinn of Laguna Niguel, California, her sister Dorothea Corwin of Verona, her brother Philip Corwin and his wife Barbara of Caldwell. Ellie was thrilled to become a grandmother. She is also survived by her beloved three grandchildren, James Patrick Connell of Manhattan, Kristi Alexandra Park of Brooklyn and Samantha Elizabeth Park of Fairfield, Connecticut.

A memorial service to celebrate Ellie’s life will be held at the Union Congregational Church, 176 Cooper Avenue, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043.  In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate contributions to The Women's Club of Upper Montclair at 200 Cooper Avenue or Union Congregational Church at 176 Cooper Avenue, both in Upper Montclair, NJ 07043.