Office Hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Calls outside of office hours? No worries! Our team will respond within 10–15 minutes.
July 1, 2020
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Friday, July 10, 2020 from 4-7 PM. A funeral service will be held at 7 PM, immediately following the visiting hours, at the funeral home.
Leona Eckert age 87 of Wayne, died on July 1, 2020. She has lived in Wayne since 1969.
Leona had grown up in the Essex, MD area. She met her husband, Frank, while attending Towson University. They married on June 27, 1953 and after a honeymoon to Atlantic City, moved to Pennsylvania, Illinois, and North Carolina before settling in Wayne, NJ.
Leona had been a 1st grade teacher at Randall Carter Elementary School in Wayne for 20+ years. She was an active member of St. Timothy’s Evangelical Lutheran Church and very active throughout the community. She had been treasurer of the Wayne Education Association and was always volunteering at the Friend’s Room of the Wayne Public Library and the Wayne Interfaith Network – Food Bank. Her love of community and teaching, was obvious to all that knew her.
Leona’s children recall her being a great mom, nurturing, supportive, and encouraging them in all their endeavors. She was a good disciplinarian as well, keeping her four children in line! She was a strong woman and never stopped working. She loved gardening and cooking. She was a great role model.
She and Frank traveled extensively during their marriage, including trips to Alaska, Australia, Egypt, Europe, Fiji, India and many other destinations. Family members were often included in their excursions to share their explorations and adventures. They enjoyed fifty-nine years of marriage before Frank passed in 2013.
Leona’s strength was evident in the years that followed, and she continued to keep herself very busy with groups at the church, her community work, knitting prayer shawls as well as taking care of her gardens.
Leona was predeceased by 1 granddaughter (Sienna Eckert) and is survived by her four children; Cynthia Tschanz of Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, Mark Eckert & Becky Guttstein of Fort Wayne , IN, Keith & Carolyn Eckert of Wayne, NJ, and Rob & Patty Eckert of East Windsor, NJ, seven grandchildren (Karl & Qian Tschanz, Sarah Eckert & Tony Dickman, Eric Tschanz, William Eckert, Kendall Eckert, Gavin Eckert and Lucas Eckert), and 4 great-grandchildren (Jake Dickman, Madison Dickman, Jacqueline Tschanz and Jocelyn Tschanz).
Memorial donations to St. Timothy’s Lutheran Church, 395 Valley Rd., Wayne, NJ 07470 would be greatly appreciated.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Friday, July 10, 2020 from 4-7 PM. A funeral service will be held at 7 PM, immediately following the visiting hours, at the funeral home.
Guestbook
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.