Eleanor "Ellie" Dunn Parker

Devoted Mother, Grandmother, Great-grandmother, 86

Eleanor Maryann Parker (nee Dunn), of West Caldwell, NJ passed away on Saturday, September 14 surrounded by her loving family.


Ellie was in Brooklyn, NY on January 3, 1927 to Mary and Adam Dunn, (co-founder of Cook & Dunn Paint Corporation, Newark, NJ) and moved to Bloomfield in 1933. At 13 she began working summers at Cook & Dunn, becoming a full time employee upon graduation from college. Ellie was a 1944 graduate of Bloomfield High School where she an editor of the school newspaper and a member of the marching band where she played the glockenspiel. A psychology major at Mt. Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA, she graduated magna cum laude in 1948. On September 5, 1949, Ellie married W. George Parker and moved to Bloomfield, NJ where they lived for 21 years.

Ellie and her husband Wally were residents of Bloomfield, Glen Ridge, Little Falls and recently West Caldwell. She was an accomplished piano player and an avid golfer. She and Wally traveled extensively and enjoyed their homes with children and grandchildren in Boca Raton, FL and Bay Head, NJ. Over the years, Ellie volunteered her time with the Glen Ridge Public Library, the Mountainside Hospital Auxiliary where she served as president, the local chapter of the American Association of University Women, where she also served as president, the Montclair Service Club, and the Women's Club of Glen Ridge where she was a life-long member. In 2003, Ellie was honored by the American Red Cross with the Comradeship Award for her volunteerism and humanitarian efforts.

Ellie is survived by her best friend and loving husband of 64 years, Wally Parker, and her children Dr. Paul Parker, Karen Skoda, Barbara Kalemkerian, daughter-in-

law Angela Parker and son-in-law John Kalemkerian. She is also survived by eight grandchildren of whom she was so proud, Matthew, Andrea, Alexis, Eleanor, Greg, Catherine, Douglas and Christopher, two grandson-in-laws Joseph Bonanno and Matthew Materkoski, and great-grandson, Mario Joseph Bonanno.

Donations may be made in Ellie's name to the Women's Club of Glen Ridge, 219 Ridgewood Avenue, Glen Ridge, NJ 07028.