1925
Eleanor
2023
Eleanor T. Hanrahan
October 25, 1925 — December 22, 2023
During her lifetime she married twice and divorced twice, raised three children of her own and helped to raise step-grandchildren, and she worked as a teacher, a waitress, a
horsewoman, and an artist. There were many different phases of El’s life, and she had many activities and interests. In her childhood there was the stimulation of urban Chicago and then the joy of summers in a small town on Lake Michigan, where she learned to ride horses and to milk goats. There her family began a tradition of family sing-alongs that continues to this day. She learned to play the violin early and then in adulthood learned the guitar.
During the 1940s, El’s family moved to New York City, and her parents purchased a house in Arlington, VT, where they all spent summers. This was the beginning of her life-long connection to Vermont. After college and marriage El studied ceramics and sculpture while raising her children in Eastchester, NY. After spending some years in North Carolina and Florida she moved to Vermont and became part of first the Shaftsbury community and then the Arlington community. She took up photography at that time. Throughout her life she was interested in people and in all of their activities and in both the satisfactions and stresses of their lives. She would read about current events, but then also about history and archaeology. She was happy to listen to opera but then glad to watch a football game. She loved all animals, especially dogs, cats, horses, and goats, and she enjoyed the outdoors, from the ocean to the mountains.
Eleanor leaves behind her three children Margot Browning (Bill Sterner) of Chicago, IL, Cynthia Browning of Arlington, VT, and Will Browning (Rebecca) of Boise, ID, her grandchildren Beckett Sterner (Erin Barringer), Renaud Boucher-Browning, and Anaise Boucher-Browning, and her great-granddaughter Imogen Sterner. She was survived by her sister Louise Tibbetts Smith, her sister-in-law Karen Tibbetts, her former brothers-in-law Peter Browning and Rufus Browning, and her former sister-in-law Virginia Lightheart. El also leaves behind numerous nieces and nephews and their children, and her stepchildren Kathleen Hanrahan, Michael Hanrahan, and Timothy Hanrahan and their children and grandchildren. She was predeceased by her two children Susan Browning and Daniel Browning, and by her first husband, Thomas B. Browning, and her second husband, Michael E. Hanrahan. She was also predeceased by her sister Priscilla Tibbetts, her brother Joel W. Tibbetts, and her brother Norris Lowell Tibbetts, Jr. In her last words she sent “love, love, love, just love” to all her family and friends.
A Memorial Service to celebrate Eleanor's life will be held on Saturday July 27, 2024 at 1:00 PM at the Federated Church of East Arlington 102 Ice Pond Road East Arlington, VT. A reception in the church hall will follow.
The family would like to express profound gratitude and affection to all those who knew Eleanor and who supported her in her later years, and most especially to those health care providers who cared for her in her struggles with numerous health problems. In lieu of flowers a donation may be made to the Arlington Rescue Squad.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Eleanor T. Hanrahan, please visit our flower store.
Service Schedule
Past Services
Memorial Service
Saturday, July 27, 2024
Starts at 1:00 pm (Eastern time)
The Federated Church of East Arlington
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