Eleanor Adams died in her Terra Linda, California retirement home on the morning of April 10, 2010. She was eighty-eight years old. Eleanor was a lifelong Chautauquan, former Secretary of the Property Owners Association, former Secretary of the Golf Club's Board of Governors and a longtime member of the Women's Golf Club.
Her father, Walter Frank Rittman, was one of the original members of the Chautauqua Foundation. Her brother, William Rittman, was a member of the Board of Trustees for eight years.
Eleanor was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1921 and graduated from Swarthmore College in 1943. She joined the U.S. Naval Reserve (WAVES) and served as a Communications Officer in San Francisco from 1944 to 1946. After the war she earned a master's degree in English from the University of Chicago, and taught in the Chicago school system from 1948 to 1949. She moved to California in 1950 and married Leon Adams in 1954.
Eleanor is survived by her son Tim, her daughter Susan, her son-in-law Clive Helfet and her grandson Aron Helfet. She also was close to Brian Adams and Gerald Adams, sons from her husband Leon's first marriage.
It was Eleanor's wish that neither funeral nor memorial services be held. Contributions in her name can be made to the Chautauqua Foundation, or to TransitPeople, a volunteer organization founded by her son Tim.
Photos of Eleanor are online at http://www.flickr.com/photos/eleanoradams
Friends and family members are invited to share memories of Eleanor in the moderated comments section below, or to e-mail comments to be posted to eleanor.r.adams@gmail.com .
