Eleanor (“Hephy”) F. Barschall was born
Hephy’s childhood was notable because she very nearly died of celiac disease. She was one of a handful of children who first profited from the discovery of the cure, which involved a diet of bananas.
Hephy attended Miss Beard’s School, now called
Morristown-Beard from kindergarten to graduation. Hephy went to
For a time, she worked in the family business, The Folsom Arms Company, but was replaced by her brother, because of family sexism.
During WWII, Hephy worked in coding at General Electric, a job she lost after the war was over, also due to sexism. Hephy retained a lifelong love of word puzzles stemming at least in part from her coding work.
Hephy became a teacher.
Hephy was proud that one of her first teaching assignments was in a
racially integrated school in
In 1949, she adventured to what was then still almost the
Wild West and took a teaching position in
She eventually married Heinz in 1955 a bold move, because Heinz’s ancestry was Jewish and her father was anti-Semitic.
Hephy moved to
Eleanor had two children, Anne in 1956 and Peter in 1958.
Eleanor suffered from depression, but took comfort in her music. She was a gifted classical pianist, delighting in playing all the most complex 18th and 19th century pieces on her baby grand piano. Eleanor also had a beautiful lyric soprano voice. She was a devoted participant in the church choir at St. Andrew’s church and in the Madison Symphony Chorus for at least 30 years.
Once her children were in school, Eleanor devoted herself to
volunteer work. She felt it would be wrong for her to take a paying job away
from someone who needed the money, when Heinz was making enough as a professor
to support the family. She loved the League of Women voters, which built on the
feminist traditions she had learned at
She also enjoyed lobbying government on issues that concerned her. One of these was nuclear power. Unlike so many other activists in this area, she believed fervently in this technology, because the fuel was plentiful and renewable, and produced no smoke to pollute the air. She was convinced that the nuclear waste issues were manageable.
From the earliest age, she loved hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. She also went hunting with her father as a teenager.
She was an avid bicyclist.
She took a volunteer position on the ped/bike committee for the city of
Heinz and Eleanor traveled extensively in
In old age, after Heinz’s death, she suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease, stenosis of the spine, and deteriorating vision. She was cared for in her home by a staff that gave her the best care that has ever been seen on this planet. Her caregivers included Pat _____, Gertrude Bohmer, Jennifer Scott, Connie Golden, Chris Ruppelt, Sharon Flanagan, Sherry Schoer, Chris Stuesser, Wendy Hutton, Sharon Huggins, Janet Bauer, Cindy McCallum, Barb Carrick, Ginny Wickman, Jackie Luyet, Barb Lanser, Kelly Leatherbury, Elena Ehlert, Amy Magnussen, Jane Wright, and Roxane Dachman along with a number of others. For nine years, these dedicated women turned what might have been a depressing situation into a happy and fulfilling home life, where Eleanor continued to go on a broad variety of outings. Her family would like to extend a special thanks to this staff for their outstanding and creative service
Eleanor died
The memorial service will be held
