Eleanor Mae Petty, 87, Caregiver, tutor and homemaker to many

She was born July 4, 1917 in Amherst.

She graduated from the Henrietta Central School with the class of 1934. Eleanor graduated from Shauffler College in Cleveland with a dual degree in Church Social Work and Religious Education in 1943. She has made her home in several states which include Ohio, New York, Hawaii, California, Tennessee, and finally moving back to Lorain County in 1999.

After college, she worked for the Women's Board of Missions, serving Migratory Agriculture Workers in Michigan, Ohio, and Texas for several years and also she tutored children in English and reading. In 1952, Eleanor was made director of "The Home of Neighborly Service", a church-orientated center in San Bernardino, California. She also worked with two troubled teen-agers of a San Bernardino Jeweler's family for ten years.

Her "retirement” included taking care of her mother for four years in Ohio, then caring for the family of a widowed friend back in San Bernardino and then moving to Tennessee as a homemaker for her widowed brother and then she worked for her niece's husband in his computer business at the age of 80.

While in Lorain County, she was a member of the South Amherst Methodist Church, which her great grandfather had helped to build after he came to Henrietta from England in the middle 1800's. While living in Ohio, she was active in the Old Stone Methodist Church in Amherst. She particularly enjoyed sewing, which her family appreciated, reading, and genealogy.

Survivors include her brother Howard Petty of Prescott, Arizona; her sister Lois Tarnowski of Amherst; and numerous nephews, nieces, great nephews, and great nieces.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Mead and Ada Petty (nee: Jaycox); and by her brother Raymond Petty in 2003.

A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, January 7, 2005 at 10 a.m. at the Golden Acres Nursing Home; 45999 North Ridge Rd., Amherst. The Rev. Gary Ihasz of Old Stone Methodist Church in Amherst will officiate.

The family suggests that memorial contributions be made to The American Diabetes Association, P.O. Box 2680, North Canton, Ohio 44720

Arrangements are being handled by the Hempel Funeral Home; 373 Cleveland Ave., Amherst, OH 44001.

Questions, please call Hempel Funeral Home at (440) 988-4451.