Obituary of Eleanor Haugh

Eleanor Haugh, 87, of Chatham, NJ, passed away peacefully on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024. She was born on Sep. 6, 1936 in Mineola, NY to Anna and Frank Kelly. She shared a wonderful childhood growing up on Long Island with her younger brother Bud. Annual family trips to Maine were the beginning of a lifelong love of Rangeley, Maine. A 1954 graduate of Roslyn High School, Eleanor went on to earn her bachelor's degree in education from Hofstra. 
Just 14 days after graduating she married the love of her life, Richard "Dick" Haugh, on June 22, 1958 in Hempstead, NY. After a brief time as a Naval wife in Charleston and Key West, the newlyweds relocated to Ann Arbor. Dick spent his time there completing his degree at the University of Michigan while Eleanor began what would become a lifetime career as an educator when she took a job as a 1st grade teacher. 
In October, 1960 life changed again with the arrival of the first of four children. Eleanor embraced the role of homemaker and stay at home mom. The smell of homemade bread, the sound of a piano playing, and a love of children's literature became the hallmarks of home life with Eleanor at the helm. 
After settling into life in suburban New Jersey, the children having reached school age, Eleanor returned to the world of education. She earned her master's degree from Rutgers and was then hired by the English Department at Summit High School. Ultimately becoming the head of the English Department, she absolutely loved her students over the years and retired in 2005. 
Retirement gave Eleanor more valuable time with her ten grandchildren; attending many sporting events, graduations, and other important milestones. It also afforded more time for bridge, golf, book clubs, painting, knitting, travel, and time with friends and family. 
Perhaps the best thing that retirement gave to Eleanor was the opportunity to spend extended time at the family lake house in her beloved Rangeley, Maine. She shared much of that time with family and friends and introduced so many to the beauty and wonder of Western Maine. Those summers were full of time caring for her garden, golfing, swimming in the lake, and repeatedly painting her favorite view of Saddleback mountain across the expanse of Rangeley Lake. 
Eleanor was a dedicated parishioner of St Andrew's Episcopal Church and truly loved singing in the choir with her beautiful soprano voice. She was an educator in every sense of the word. Not only a school teacher, she was also a respected SAT tutor, taught memoir and etiquette classes, and had an uncanny ability to connect with and raise up the people around her. Eleanor will be missed terribly by family and friends alike. 
She is predeceased by Dick, her loving husband of 61 years. She is survived by her brother Bud Kelly, her four children, Skip, Stacey, Meredith and Andrew; her 10 adoring grandchildren, 1 great grandchild and many other family members and friends. 
As a final act of kindness, Eleanor donated her body to the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where it will be used to train future physicians. 
We apologize for any grammatical errors as Eleanor was not available to proofread this obituary. 
Family and friends are invited to St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, New Providence, NJ, on Saturday, March 2nd at 2 p.m. for a memorial service followed by a reception to reminisce, grieve, and support one another in Eleanor's memory. 
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Eleanor's memory to the Rangeley Public Library www.rangeleylibrary.org and we encourage memorial service attendees to bring a children's book to the funeral that will be donated to underprivileged children in the Summit area.