Eleanor Strauss

STRAUSS, Eleanor “Ellie”, age 74, of Clearwater, FL died November 29, 2015 in Sarasota, FL. She was born and raised in Chelsea, Massachusetts on October 2, 1941. Her mother, Tessie Recht-Terban was from Warsaw, Poland, her father, Max Terban from Kiev, Ukraine. Ellie was the youngest of 9 children, 4 sisters, Rita, Esther, Frances and Shirley and 4 brothers, Joseph and Jack (identical twins and oldest), Harry and Bernard “Butchy”.

As a young child, her sister, Shirley remembers that when she was in 1st grade she hated getting out of bed to go to school and gave her mother a very hard time. She was always very independent. She worked at a very early age. She went to work as a waitress at Mt. Washington and said she was older to get the job. She was a very quick learner always excelled and everything she did. She was a majorette in high school and had a lot of friends.

She married John Strauss. She met John (husband) at Sammy’s Patio, Revere Beach. He was a musician and she loved music.

She was married at 19 and had 4 children.She became a school teacher and taught special education at Lakeside School in Peabody, MA.She loved teaching, loved the kids, had story after story about her days there and was very proud of her accomplishments with the children.

Ellie and John entertained quite a bit at their home in Peabody. It was not uncommon to come home to a house full of people on a nightly basis and every time John would cook and he would always want to share with the neighborhood. They had lots of parties in their backyard pool and it seemed like every weekend the grill was going and the people just poured in.

Her favorite color and flower was lilac. She hated perfume and if you wore it around her, she would definitely let you know how much she hated it! She loved to dance (not a very good dancer though) LOL. Mostly she just loved people and to be around friends. She would do anything for her friends and they would do anything for her. Her friendships were strong for life. Her closest sister was Shirley. She was very charitably inclined donating her time, money and household items to the families of the children in need. Ellie’s hobbies were reading, horse track, (Vegas and Mississippi for fun with her friends) and writing. She loved keeping a journal.

She was very proud of all of her grandkids. She helped raise each and every one of them. She was always there to babysit and watch them when we had to go to work or run errands or go on vacation. She was very proud of each one of us and was always there for us. We called her and asked her about all aspects of our lives. She was our rock, true matriarch of the family. We will miss her so much.

She was preceded in death by John Strauss.The youngest of nine children, she is survived by her eight brothers and sisters. Her pride was her family. The mother of four and grandmother of seven. She leaves her children, Jeffrey Strauss, Alan Strauss, Rochelle “Shelley” Strauss-Cairo, and Susan “Susie” Strauss-Armstrong as well as grandchildren, Joseph "Joey” (Jessica), Tiffanie, Shaina, Jacob, Max, Sarah, and Kaitlyn "Kaity”.