Eleanor Elizabeth Molyneux

I am so sorry to tell you that my mother, Eleanor Elizabeth (Ranlet) Molyneux passed away Sunday morning June 26^th. She was 101 years and 8 months old, and her mind was good to the end. She was confined to a nursing home this last year but lived independently before that.

She met Dad in church before WWII and waited for him to come home. She worked in a toy factory during the war. They were married for more than 50 years, which is an accomplishment. Her first job after marriage was in a drug store (yes, they called them that) and she was crazy good at the soda fountain. She went to work for Boy Scouts as a clerk-typist because she taught herself shorthand from a 78-rpm record in one of the first correspondence classes. She worked her way up to manage the buying and distributing of all the uniforms and uniform parts. She was that smart. She was also active in the Girl Scouts for more than 50 years.

When she retired, many years ago, she took up quilting and her first quilt which is now in my daughter’s home, was a Sunbonnet Sue quilt that took first place at the Texas state fair. Everything she did was that good.

She is survived by her daughter Linda Gagen (Leo Hirrel), son Robert Molyneux, Linda’s daughter Melissa (John Arvin), her son James Gagen (Vicky) and three beloved great-grandchildren Natalia Elizabeth Gagen Lily Eleanor Arvin and James Jacob (J.J.) Arvin, whose activities and antics gave her joy to the end.