EGAN, Eleanor Virginia (DeFilippo)
Eleanor passed away unexpectedly, of natural causes, at her home in Dallas, Texas, on December 28, 2023. She was looking forward to celebrating her 92nd birthday with family on January 7. Eleanor was born on January 7, 1932 in Watertown, Massachusetts to Salvatore and Angelina DeFilippo. She was the youngest of four children and the apple of her father’s eye. She frequented Boston Red Sox games as a child with her dad. Eleanor was a graduate of Watertown High School, Watertown, MA and Fisher College, Boston, MA.
She married Paul Egan; and they had two children, Cheryl and Brian. She participated in community theater and choral groups in MA. Eleanor had a distinguished twenty-five-year career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (“MIT”), Cambridge, MA. She was privileged to work as a research assistant for the esteemed inventor of strobe photography, Dr. Harold “Doc” Edgerton, in the Strobe Laboratory as well as a research assistant at the Center for Information Systems Research (“CISR”) at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. She was a member of the Quarter Century Club and Women’s League at MIT.
After Eleanor retired from MIT in 1995, she relocated to Dallas to be near her so, Brian, and his family.
She quickly became involved in the Dallas community and volunteered at the AARP tax clinic at Highland Park United Methodist Church as a tax preparer. She shared her technology skills by volunteering at IBM’s Senior Net Program to assist senior citizens on the use of personal computers. Eleanor attended the Friday Fellowship Program at Highland Park Presbyterian Church, where she also volunteered as an archivist. Eleanor was a participant in fitness classes at Moody YMCA until the time of her passing. Eleanor loved learning foreign languages. She spoke Italian in her family home as a child, studied French in college and after retirement, took conversational Spanish classes. Eleanor traveled domestically and internationally and was particularly fond of her trips to her ancestors’ homeland, Italy. Eleanor enjoyed good health and an independent life until her death. She took great pride in maintaining her own home, doing her own shopping and cooking for herself. If the weather was not inclement, she took daily walks. Eleanor was predeceased by her parents, her three siblings, her former spouse; and her daughter, Cheryl.
She is survived by her son, Brian Egan of Dallas; her granddaughter, Lauren Egan of San Francisco, CA; her granddaughter, Erin Egan and Erin’s fiancé, Anthony Jones of Dallas; and her former daughter-in-law, Carol Egan of Dallas. Burial Service will be held at Newton Cemetery Chapel, Saturday, January 20, at 11:00 am, 791 Walnut St., Newton, MA 02459. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests making a charitable gift to the American Cancer Society, https://donate.cancer.org/ 250 Williams Street, 4th Floor, Atlanta, GA 30303.