Eileen Bair

M. Eileen Bair, 92, of Roselle Park, NJ, died peacefully on Saturday, March 14, 2026. She lived in Irvington until age 8 then moved to Boonton for a year. She then lived on Orange St in Bloomfield until graduating from Immaculate Conception High School, Montclair in 1951. As a child she enjoyed riding a bicycle and playing in nearby Watsessing Park. As a teen, she cherished the summers spent palling around with her cousins down the shore.

After High School she worked as a Reports Clerk in the Commercial Directory department of NJ Bell Telephone until 1953. In 1952 Eileen met and married her husband Dan. They enjoyed square dancing every Saturday night with friends at Hilltop Barn in Bloomfield for many years. They moved to Roselle Park and lived there for 60 years where she raised 5 children and kept an amazing garden with a birdfeeder, many flowers and vegetables. As an only child, when her parents fell ill, she cared for them as well. She was very clever and could figure out how to do things without great expense. She learned to sew clothes from a pattern and cut hair for herself and her family. In the evenings, she enjoyed chatting with her husband and listening to music, radio programs, and the news. Eileen loved everyone and everyone loved her. Always considering and anticipating the needs of others before her own. If she was feeling cold she would ask you to put on a sweater.

Her greatest joy was staying at home caring for her husband and children, but she also loved going to see Broadway shows, visiting relatives, and entertaining her grandchildren. She loved reading and sharing what she learned by clipping articles from magazines or newspapers to send to her grown children. She had a dog as a child and always had a cat as part of the family.

Eileen and Dan loved taking the family on month-long vacations to places like Ocean Grove, Long Beach Island, Swartzwood Lake, Spruce Run, Round Valley, Watkins Glen, Maine, North Carolina, Florida, and Montreal, usually tent camping along the way. Eileen loved the color green like the forest and taught her children to appreciate the natural world.

Following a diagnosis of progressive dementia likely caused by Alzheimer’s disease, Eileen received excellent care at Arden Courts of West Orange before passing away peacefully with a daughter by her side.

Eileen is survived by her children Linda, David (Lorie), Lucille, Kenneth (Lin-Marie), Laura (Dennis), and her grandchildren Matthew (Jacqueline), Christina (Stephen), Rachael, Kenni, Kenneth (Kayla), Zach, Sarah, and six great-grandchildren. Eileen is predeceased by her beloved husband Daniel Bair, her parents Charles M. Shaw and Rose E. Cumiskey, her grandparents Walter L. Shaw, Laura Bell Somers, Matthew J. Cumiskey, Anna M. Geelan, and her great-grandparents Morgan S. Shaw, Emily M. Coombs, John P. Sommers, Elizabeth Passmore, Peter Cumiskey, Bridget Flynn, William Geelan, and Catherine Reilly.

Arrangements will be held privately by McCracken Funeral Home in Union, NJ. In lieu of flowers, donations to New Jersey Alzheimer's at alznj.org will help others as they have helped our family.