Eleanor J. Ferreira (Judd)

NORTH CHELMSFORD - Eleanor J. (Judd) Ferreira, a longtime resident of North Chelmsford, passed away peacefully on July 18, 2019 at Westford House.

Born in Natick on January 4, 1932, she was the daughter of the late Howard and Louise (Lane) Judd.

Eleanor was a loving and giving mother, stepmother, and grandmother and a caring and true friend to those who knew her. She spent her early years in Medford, MA, residing on Marion Street with her parents and two brothers Rusty and Donald. Throughout her life Eleanor was a very spiritual person with deep faith. She grew up as a member of Grace Episcopal Church in Medford. Eleanor participated in many church activities including trips to church camps, fairs, fellowship meetings, Night Owls, Rainbow Girls and meals at the refectory. She was especially proud that her minister Ben Arnold would later serve as Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.

At the age of fourteen Eleanor contracted polio and spent the next year as a patient at Boston Children’s Hospital. The care she received there from the nurses and staff, especially Dr. David Grice, allowed her to recover. Eleanor would return to Medford High School and graduate with the class of 1950. She attended Framingham State Teachers College.

She moved to Chelmsford, MA in 1958, living there for the next sixty years. During her working life she would be employed by Friend’s Baked Bean Company, New England Telephone, first in Lexington and later in Lowell, and at Lowell General Hospital on the switchboard.

Eleanor was a woman of many talents and interests. She loved knitting and quilting and was a member of the Chelmsford Quilters Guild as well as the Garrison House in Chelmsford. An excellent cook and baker she devoted many hours to reading and collecting cookbooks, submitting many well tested recipes for publication. Always a gracious hostess she enjoyed entertaining, especially around the holidays when her table would be splendidly set, sometimes overflowing, with delectable favorites. Eleanor was a member of All Saints Episcopal Church in Chelmsford; Lowell General Hospital Auxiliary, serving as secretary for a time; the International Order of St. Luke the Physician, a healing ministry known as OSL; and many post polio syndrome support groups. Eleanor loved poetry and music, and would often be heard reciting a favorite verse. She could always be counted on to recall the words to virtually any popular song or hymn.

Eleanor will be remembered as a warm loving person, with a ready smile and a caring heart, who will be greatly missed.

She is survived by her sons; Randolph Gillies and his wife Warna of Ormond Beach, FL, David Gillies and his wife Kimberly of Meredith, NH, and Jeffrey Gillies and his wife Nance of North Chelmsford, her stepdaughter; Mary Barlow of Whitinsville, MA and grandchildren; Neal, Chelsea, Stephen, and the late Bryce Gillies; also many cousins, nieces and nephews.

Visiting hours will be held on Friday, August 2, 2019 from 4:00-7:00 pm at the Blake Chelmsford Funeral Home, 24 Worthen St., Chelmsford.

Her Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, August 3, 2019 at 10 o'clock at All Saints Episcopal Church, 10 Billerica Rd., Chelmsford.

KINDLY MEET AT THE CHURCH.

Interment to follow in Pine Ridge Cemetery Chelmsford.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Eleanor's name to Spaulding Rehab, 1575 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (please write Framingham on the memo line) or giving.spauldingnetwork.org