Obituary of Honey C Eckhardt

Honey Cooper Eckhardt, 63, a lifetime resident of Gladstone passed away with her family by her side on May 18, 2012 at Morristown Memorial Hospital after an accident at home. A research scientist at Ciba (which later became Novartis) for 37 years, Honey made many friends in the scientific community. She was humble about her many accomplishments and loved to be in the lab. In retirement Honey pursued several other careers in order to stay busy. First she went to massage therapy school and became licensed several years ago and practiced up until her death. Not being enough she also went to Pharmacy Technician school and became licensed in both New Jersey and New Hampshire. She was anticipating a move to New Hampshire in order to better her chances of seeing Moose. Having an immeasurable love for animals, Honey also worked part time at the Chester Animal Hospital. The most important aspect of her life were the people that were in it. Fiercely loyal and protective of her friends and family, Honey would stop at nothing to better someone else's life. She reached out to so many people that we have trouble figuring out where she found the time to do it. It was humbling to learn of all her attempts at anonymous charity in the past few days as countless people cycled through the ICU to visit and tell stories. She will be greatly missed by all her professional friends who knew her as "Coop" and everyone else that knew her as "Honey." In her final way to help others, Honey donated body tissues through the New Jersey Sharing Network, and by doing so will help countless people unknown to herself and her family. Please consider speaking to your loved ones about organ and tissue donation. Honey was preceeded in death by her parents Mike and Mary Cooper. She is survived by husband of 34 years Pete, son Adam and his wife Elissa of Canaan, NH, son David of Milford NJ, dogs Madison and Nellie, and cat Jack. Funeral arrangements are by the Bailey Funeral Home, 176 Main Street, Peapack, NJ 07977 www.baileyfuneralhomes.com (908) 234-0590 A memorial service will celebrate Honey's life on Thursday, May 24, 2012 at St. Brigid R. C. Church, 129 Main Street, Peapack, NJ 07977 at 10:30AM. A reception at the church will follow. In lieu of flowers please make a donation to your favorite animal charity.