Obituary of Eleanor Helen Cary

ELEANOR H. CARY, 99, passed away peacefully on Saturday, July 4, 2020, at Rome Hospital Residential Health Care Facility. Born on June 7, 1921, in Rome, NY, she was the daughter of the late Jan and Aniela (Koń) Stachnik. Eleanor was a lifelong resident of Rome, NY, and graduated in 1938 from Rome Free Academy. She attended Oswego Normal School from 1938 to 1941, where she majored in elementary education. She returned home to work at General Cable for the WWII Home Front effort and to care for her widowed mother. On August 24, 1946, she married Frederick H. Cary, who passed away on September 14, 1989. Eleanor was a loving and dedicated mother to their six children and was very active in the Transfiguration School Mothers Club for the two decades that her children attended Transfiguration School. Eleanor was also an active member of the Transfiguration Rosary Society, served as its recording secretary for several years, and wrote the history of the society that was published for its 75th and 90th anniversary celebrations. Eleanor worked as a secretary at the Utica State Hospital laboratory from 1966 until her retirement in June 1986. She enjoyed gardening, crafts of all kinds, and having her family around her table for food, music, and stories. She was extremely proud of her Polish heritage and cultivated a love for its food and traditions among her children and grandchildren. Although she did not get to teach in a classroom, her early aspiration to be a teacher was ultimately fulfilled through her own lifelong learning pursuits and as she guided and supported her six children through their own high school and college educations. In addition to her parents and her husband, Eleanor was predeceased by her older siblings, Victoria Reynolds, Gladys Morris, Anna Stachnik, and Joseph Stamick; and her grandson, Jonathan Cary Joyce. Eleanor is survived by her children, Patricia A. Joyce (Richard), Rochester, MN; Christine V. Smith, Radnor, PA; Michael F. Cary (Katherine), Ogdensburg, NY; Frederick J. Cary (Paula), Rochester, NY; Katherine A. Trela (John), Poughkeepsie, NY; Francis C. Cary (Beth), Canandaigua, NY. She is also survived by 12 grandchildren: Caroline Vitse, Sean Smith, Kevin Smith, Crystal Cary, Michael Cary, Eliot Cary, Casey Trela, Katelyn Edelson, Morgan Baker, Elizabeth Carlson, Kristin Dolan, Steven Cary, and Zachary Cary; nine great-grandchildren; one niece, and five nephews. Eleanor’s family would like to acknowledge and thank the staff of RHCF for the loving and constant care of their mother for the eight years she lived there and for the last few months of her life. (Contributions in her memory may be made to the Rome Memorial Hospital COVID-19 Fund at https://romehospital.thankyou4caring.org/donate… ) Arrangements have been entrusted to Strong-Burns and Sprock Funeral Home. Calling hours will be Friday, July 10 from 6:00 to 7:00, adhering to state-mandated face coverings and social distancing. A funeral Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday, July 11, at Transfiguration of Our Lord Church