- Date Of Birth: June 6, 1921
- Date Of Death: July 11, 2016
- State: Michigan
Eleanor Fox Spaniolo, 95, died peacefully on July 11, 2016 in St. Paul, Minnesota, in the company of her two sons and two daughters. She was born June 6, 1921 in Port Huron, Michigan. In 1943, she married Victor G. Spaniolo.
She was a secretary for a judge and he was a reporter for the Port Huron Times-Herald. They were married for 53 years, living in Greenville, Charlevoix and Cassopolis, Michigan, and finally in South Bend, Indiana. Victor preceded her in death on February 5, 1997. Most of her life centered around family and her beloved husband, Victor. She was the love of his life and the feeling was mutual.
He was a journalist and newspaper publisher (Charlevoix Courier, Cassopolis Vigilant, Edwardsburg Argus and Niles Daily Star) and she was his advisor and confidante. Together they raised four children with intense love, nurturing and pride. In her later years following Victor’s death, Eleanor lived an active independent life, making new friends, volunteering at a local hospital and closely following the lives of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. She also developed a keen interest in American politics and political history, visiting Presidential Libraries and reading Presidential biographies.
Until her last month, following celebration of her 95th birthday in June, she read two newspapers a day, including The New York Times, and regularly watched MSNBC for the day’s headlines and latest political news. She had strong views about the presidential candidates in 2016 and was looking forward to voting in the November election. Though she did not have the chance to attend college, she took great pride in the fact that her husband and four children graduated from Michigan State University.
She was a loyal Spartan in every respect. She loved to ride on passenger trains, an affection she learned from her father, whose career was with the Grand Trunk Railroad, and she took many trips from Michigan to various places in the United States to visit family. She also enjoyed travel outside the country, visiting Italy, Scotland, Great Britain, France, Greece, Japan, Canada and Cuba. She made friends wherever she went, touching the lives of those whose paths she crossed and never lost her curiosity or interest in family, life and politics. And she loved dogs, all dogs.
Any time, all the time. She is survived by her four children, James, Thomas, Margaret and Virginia Spaniolo, five grandchildren, Jamie, Sarah, Kate, Sofia and Alex, and three great grandchildren, Carson, Riley and Devin.
