Eleannore M. Stokes
June 14, 1925 ~ April 6, 2020
Eleanore M. Stokes, died on April 6, 2020, at her home in Reston VA. She was born on June 14, 1925, in the Greenpoint neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, daughter of Andrew J. Moran and Agnes M. (Walsh) Moran. The second of three children, she was predeceased by her parents and her older sister Dorothy Moran Ginnity, and is survived by her younger brother Andrew Moran, Jr., of Maine.
Eleanore is also survived by her daughter, Jeanne Archibald, and her husband Thomas Archibald, of Reston Virginia, and her three sons: William Stokes, and his wife Chris Stokes, of Boston, Massachusetts, Peter Stokes, and his wife Lori Rogers-Stokes, of Arlington, Massachusetts, and David Stokes of San Francisco, California. Eleanore cherished her four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, as well as many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Eleanore graduated from St. Elizabeth’s Academy, Allegany, NY, class of 1943. Following graduation, she worked in the Brooklyn Navy Yard contributing to wartime production. In 1944, she married George R. Stokes, who was then serving in the US Navy. Settling first in Brooklyn and then Sag Harbor, New York, Eleanore raised four children. In 1967 at the age of 42, Eleanore enrolled in college as a part-time student with the aim of getting a 2-year associate’s degree, but a love of learning took hold and after getting the two-year degree, she progressed to a BA at the State University of New York Stony Brook, graduating in the same class year as her daughter. Eleanore then continued to earn an MA and, finally, a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology in 1982 at the age of 56. After positions in New York and Connecticut, where she held the Travelers’ Chair at UConn, she joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota, St. Cloud. Her research focused on the social and economic effects of retirement communities within local host communities. She retired in 1997 and relocated to Reston, VA.
She will be remembered for her love of adventure and travel, which took her to locations as diverse as Costa Rica, England, Japan, and Mexico, where she spent many months teaching and studying. She loved banter and was cheerful throughout her life, whatever circumstances confronted her. She was particularly fond of the music of Frank Sinatra and enjoyed watching M*A*S*H, Seinfeld and her favorite Brit Coms. She was a voracious reader of science magazines and newspapers. Throughout her life, she found ways of serving local communities: She was active in the PTA for PS 94 in Brooklyn, and she served on the Sag Harbor School Board and on two homeowner association boards in Reston. She set an amazing example for her children, demonstrating how to live an ambitious, purposeful and personally rewarding life marked by perseverance, curiosity, and spirit.
A service of remembrance will be scheduled at a future date. Those who wish to remember Eleanore in a special way may make gifts in her memory to the Emergency Preparedness Fund of Inova Health Foundation [https://foundation.inova.org/ways-to-give/].
Eleanore is also survived by her daughter, Jeanne Archibald, and her husband Thomas Archibald, of Reston Virginia, and her three sons: William Stokes, and his wife Chris Stokes, of Boston, Massachusetts, Peter Stokes, and his wife Lori Rogers-Stokes, of Arlington, Massachusetts, and David Stokes of San Francisco, California. Eleanore cherished her four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, as well as many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Eleanore graduated from St. Elizabeth’s Academy, Allegany, NY, class of 1943. Following graduation, she worked in the Brooklyn Navy Yard contributing to wartime production. In 1944, she married George R. Stokes, who was then serving in the US Navy. Settling first in Brooklyn and then Sag Harbor, New York, Eleanore raised four children. In 1967 at the age of 42, Eleanore enrolled in college as a part-time student with the aim of getting a 2-year associate’s degree, but a love of learning took hold and after getting the two-year degree, she progressed to a BA at the State University of New York Stony Brook, graduating in the same class year as her daughter. Eleanore then continued to earn an MA and, finally, a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology in 1982 at the age of 56. After positions in New York and Connecticut, where she held the Travelers’ Chair at UConn, she joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota, St. Cloud. Her research focused on the social and economic effects of retirement communities within local host communities. She retired in 1997 and relocated to Reston, VA.
She will be remembered for her love of adventure and travel, which took her to locations as diverse as Costa Rica, England, Japan, and Mexico, where she spent many months teaching and studying. She loved banter and was cheerful throughout her life, whatever circumstances confronted her. She was particularly fond of the music of Frank Sinatra and enjoyed watching M*A*S*H, Seinfeld and her favorite Brit Coms. She was a voracious reader of science magazines and newspapers. Throughout her life, she found ways of serving local communities: She was active in the PTA for PS 94 in Brooklyn, and she served on the Sag Harbor School Board and on two homeowner association boards in Reston. She set an amazing example for her children, demonstrating how to live an ambitious, purposeful and personally rewarding life marked by perseverance, curiosity, and spirit.
A service of remembrance will be scheduled at a future date. Those who wish to remember Eleanore in a special way may make gifts in her memory to the Emergency Preparedness Fund of Inova Health Foundation [https://foundation.inova.org/ways-to-give/].
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