Born to parents Dorothy and Walter Ostrander only two days prior to Mother's Day on Friday May 8th 1942 Eleanor took her first breath in Brooklyn, New York. At this time she had been the seventh child born of eight to the Ostrander family. Two brothers each named Walter had passed away...one at birth and the other at the age of two. Surviving siblings at that time in 1942 included Bobby, Ruthy, Billy and Peggy. Two years later Eleanor would enjoy another sister Carol to join the Ostrander family.

Sadly, Eleanor's father Walter passed away when she was very young.  Her mother Dorothy then remarried a man by the name of Foley. Through her stepfather and mother Eleanor was blessed to have two additional brothers added to her family, Phillip and Eddy.

Some years later Mr. Foley also passed away. Mother Dorothy was left as a lone parent to raise and to support the remaing children at home. Eleanor along with some of her other siblings went to work to help support the family. Back then welfare was supported by family, not government and this certainly was a factor in the development of Eleanor's strong character traits including ambition and self sufficiency.

Eleanor eventually married a Henry Wernerspach. With him she had her daughter Linda.  After 10 years Eleanor and Henry were divorced.  

Shortly afterwards, Eleanor met a Joseph Letts. After a short relationship with him Eleanor realized that she was pregnant with her son Vincent. They were not married so Eleanor maintained the family name Wernerspach and Vincent was born to that name as well.

Eleanor eventually met Ray Peters in 1974 at a roller skating rink in Lakewood, New Jersey.  He too was divorced and had three children of his own: Toni, Andrew and Jessica.  After dating for over four years, Ray invited Eleanor and her children Linda and Vincent to join his family which also included his Aunt Helen in Howell, New Jersey. Eleanor enthusiastically accepted on June 6, 1978

Sadly, Eleanor lost her beloved mother Dorothy due to an unexpected heart attack only two months later on August 11, 1978. 

In 1984 Eleanor became a grandmother for the first time! Kalyn Marie Obriwin was born from her daughter Linda. Linda would also have two sons Gerry and Keith respectively.

In 1996 Eleanor became a grandmother for the 4th time to her son Vincent"s first child Matthew Alexander Wernerspach and then also a 5th and 6th time to Brienna Min Wernerspach  in 1997 and to Chase Andrew Wernerspach in 2001. 

Eleanor would also become a great grandmother to children born of her daughter Linda's children Kayln, Gerald and Keith. Unfortunately they never had the pleasure to know her nor she them.

In early November of 2005 Eleanor was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor within her large intestine. She was successfully operated upon on December 5th by Dr. Lowrey, gastrointestinal surgeon at Community Medical Center. She and her loved ones were very fortunate that the cancer was limited to the tumor and that it had not spread any where else.

Eleanor worked at Pineland Nursing Home in Lakewood,  New Jersey and then Bartley Nursing Home in Jackson, New Jersey collectively for nearly 33 years before she retired after suffering a severe shoulder injury to her rotator cuff in a work related incident.

In late winter of 2014, Eleanor was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor within her left breast. The biopsy ruled out a connection to her previous colon cancer. After a great deal of research and contemplation Eleanor elected to have a complete mastectomy of her left breast. Rather than chemotherapy Eleanor elected to have radiation treatment localized to the breast and surrounding areas. The mastectomy was completed in early Spring of 2014 and in late Spring of 2014 Eleanor had taken a sidecar motorcycle trip to Lake George, New York with Ray.

For three years Eleanor was checked for cancer recurrance via one annual PET scan and quarterly blood tests. She remained clear.  In the fourth year after her first blood test a low level marker suggested that a cancerous tumor was in her body. A PET scan revealed no such presence.  Quarterly blood tests continued to show an unchanged low level marker through the remainder of the year but no other scans were performed.

In the first quarter of year 5 the blood test revealed a considerable spike in the cancer marker.  CT and PET scans revealed three considerable mestastises of breast cancer. Eleanor began chemotherapy treatments about two weeks following the unfortunate discoveries. She was responding well until blood clots occurred that created pulmonary embolisms. This was treated for several days in Monmouth Medical South Campus Formerly Known as Kimball Medical Center with Heparin drip and Xarelto oral medication. After being stabilized Eleanor was released home and continued her weekly chemotherapy treatments 3 weeks on, then one week off for 16 consecutive weeks.

A new pet scan was completed and demonstrated that the "hot spots" of cancer were all eliminated and that the tumors had reduced 50% in size. Eleanor seemed to be on the road to a cancer remission. She was very fortunate to never have suffered the typical nausea and vomiting that many people experience through chemotherapy. This was definitely a contributing factor to her ability to maintain reasonable health during these treatments.

Although exhausted at times and although all of her hair on her head fell out,  Eleanor continued to maintain as normal a life as she was able. She shopped at the local Stop & Shop store and enjoyed her favorite coffees at Chick-fil-A,  Dunkin Donuts and the local McDonalds. She purchased her daily scratch off tickets some losers some winners and enjoyed watching her favorite game shows on regular TV stations and of course the Game Show Network.

Following the initial 12 sessions of chemotherapy and the pet scans her oncologist suggested nine additional chemotherapy sessions. He felt rather confident that six sessions would probably send the cancer into remission but felt that nine sessions be a safe play. Unfortunately after her third session of the new set of nine sessions ordered, Eleanor's taste buds changed and she was unable to enjoy eating foods that she had eaten for many years. This made it difficult for her to eat and maintain normal caloric intake. We worked with her the best we could to encourage her to eat and to continue to move forward. Although she did not experience nausea nor vomit she did develop another gastrointestinal issue that contributed to a dehydration process. This began to complicate her ability to receive chemotherapy consistently. This was rather unfortunate because it also created an inability for Eleanor to go out and to enjoy her normal life routines. For the first time in many years Eleanor was unable to take the Lake George trip to New York. She also declined a trip to Wildwood, New Jersey and finally to Macungie Pennsylvania.

On September 13th Eleanor received her last chemotherapy treatment although not planned to be that way that was the last treatment. On September 15th Eleanor attended and 80th birthday celebration for her life partner Ray surrounded by loving family and extended family Eleanor enjoyed her time and what food that she could eat that she enjoyed. She was walking with a cane at that time although tired fully capable of all of her motor skills.

Several weeks later Eleanor was barely able to stand. After walking to the top of her staircase she collapsed at the landing but fortunately did not seem to suffer any injury. The following morning when she arrived for a chemotherapy treatment instead she was directed to the emergency room for evaluation. The assumption was that Eleanor was suffering from muscle atrophy in her legs due to a recent sedentary lifestyle as a result of exhaustion from the chemotherapy treatments. Eleanor was admitted to Monmouth Medical South Campus formerly known as Kimball Medical Center for further observation. During her two days observation and MRI of her brain revealed that a 1-inch tumor had evolved at the base of the left side of her brain and a pea sized tumor in the front left anterior lobe. The presence of these tumors created swelling and pressure on the brain which induced severe vomiting, bowel complications and stroke-like symptoms. Her oncologist arranged for Eleanor to be transported to Community Medical Center in order to receive CyberKnife treatment of the brain tumors to destroy them and also steroidal treatment to reduce the swelling. The goal was to expel the swelling so that Eleanor would once again regain her faculties.

The CyberKnife treatment as well as the steroids certainly assisted Eleanor in having more alertness mental Clarity and some improvements in her ability to speak and to communicate. Unfortunately from the neck down she was unable to move a finger or wiggle her toes. She absolutely must have been frustrated and miserable. Each and every day for hours per day her beloved family members and extended family visited her in the hospital.  We strongly encouraged her to get well. We helped in many ways to exercise her, to help feed her and to encourage the medical staff at the hospital to provide her with the nutritional and medical necessities to assist her body to get better. 

Over the three weeks that Eleanor was hospitalized, she began with a poor diagnosis which then improved and then declined. We are very fortunate to have been with her throughout all of those ups and downs. 

In her last hour, Eleanor was personally surrounded by her son Vincent,  her life and domestic partner Raymond, her granddaughter Brienna,  Vincent's life and domestic partner Rebecca, her grandson Chase  and Brienna's boyfriend Gregorio. Eleanor's grandson Matthew and her step daughters Jessica and Toni including friends :Cathy and Bob Riley, Ken Gantner and Dave and Judy Kessler all visited personally during the days and weeks before her departure. She is very thankful for those visits I am sure. Who knew that the same hospital where her life was once saved from colon cancer 13 years earlier would be the same hospital where she would lose her life 13 years later?

Eleanor was accompanied by her life partner Raymond at every single chemotherapy session and by her son Vincent who attended most every session and his children who attended some sessions. After working most days Vincent spent several hours most evenings visiting with his mother and Ray watching TV shows together. Rebecca and Brienna occasionally went to the house to help clean and cook. Ray cooked most meals most all of the summer and the Autumn until Eleanor passed. We all contributed to help Eleanor as she has helped us throughout the many years that we have been fortunate enough to have her within our lives.

Eleanor passed away at 12:05 p.m. on Friday November 2nd 2018 surrounded by loved ones mentioned above. As Eleanor has began a new chapter in the afterlife as we understand it, we now begin a new chapter within this life. Although we no longer have Eleanor with us physically to participate within our lives we certainly have our fond memories of her,  the lessons that she has left with us and the values that she has instilled within us.  Through us these memories, lessons and values certainly keep Eleanor alive within this world. 

For those of you who know Eleanor we hope this will add to your knowledge. For those of you who did not know Eleanor or knew very little of her we hope that this biography will make you to know Eleanor better. 

Eleanor (Mom, Grandma) we love you unconditionally and we miss you dearly!

Love your greatful son,

Vincent