Grace Helen Eckenrode was born on December 12, 1940 and raised in Galveston, Texas by her parents, Joe and Rosalee Zinante. She is survived by her one sibling, Rose Ann Walker. Grace married Dennis Eckenrode on December of 1964 and they raised their three children together, Veronica, Sue and Dennis Jr. Grace’s 9 grandchildren are Jason, Toni, John Henry, Joseph, Courtney, Haley, Jacob, Dylan and Leah.
Her 14 great grandchildren are Addison, Carly, Sophie, Parker, Kimber, Kami, Bailey, Easton, Hadley, Reed, Wade, Liam and Emery and the youngest who hasn’t made his arrival yet.
Grace was a beautician by trade and owned her own beauty shop in her home. She ensured all her children were raised Catholic and they made many sacrifices for each one to attend Catholic schools. Grace was fun loving and enjoyed being a wife, mother, daughter and sister. But being a grandmother brought her unlimited joy!!! She loved being around her family and seeing all her babies loving and playing with each other. Nothing made her heart happier. She was proud of her family and all of their accomplishments.
She enjoyed making her home welcoming for all.
There was always room for extras. She had many friends including all her neighbors. She especially loved her Returning Catholics church group, where she made many lifelong friendships. She loved to cook, crochet and sew,as these were her favorite hobbies. She shared her delicious food with others and every new baby in the family had a custom baby blanket prepared for them and so many others. Grace was a very talented and giving lady. Always ready to share and give from the talents that God gave her. There were always extra children at family gatherings, Grace would include every last one, to Grace, they were all hers, each one treated as special.
We will miss her greatly and now that she is gone, there is a huge void in the Eckenrode family. But the fond memories of her will continue to heal our pain making us smile as we remember all the fun times shared together.
