Eileen Gandolfini Neuhauser's Obituary
Eileen Gandolfini Neuhauser: loving wife to Charles Neuhauser and mother to Christopher, Stephen and Elizabeth passed away unexpectedly on November 22, 2023, at the age of seventy-seven.
She was born Eileen Marie Gandolfini on September 20, 1946, to Kay and Aldo Gandolfini of West Hartford, Connecticut. After graduating from high school, she spent three years working for the Community Renewal Team (CRT) in Hartford, first as a secretary and later as a grant writer. CRT has provided food, childcare and medical support to the Hartford area for more than 60 years. In 1968 Eileen volunteered for the Peace Corps and spent two years serving in Rabat, Morocco as an administrator and teacher. When she completed her Peace Corps service, she spent several months hitchhiking around Europe with several other volunteers. Eileen was fluent in French and Italian and knew a bit of Arabic.
Following the Peace Corps Eileen worked at MIT in the medical department. In 1972 she moved to Palo Alto and worked as an administrator at Stanford University. There she met Charlie Neuhauser who at that time worked down the hall from her office as a graduate student. They were married in 1981. Christopher arrived in 1983 and Eileen left Stanford to be a full-time mother. Stephen followed in 1985 and Elizabeth in 1989.
Eileen loved her children dearly and was very active in every aspect of the children’s schooling and activities. Beginning in kindergarten she was a room mother along with several others, who after 35 years, still met for lunch once a month. She enjoyed watching our children play soccer, baseball and basketball and volunteered to help with band trips for both Cupertino Junior High School and Homestead High School. In between were hours of set-building for Sunnyvale Community Theater and Children’s Musical Theater in San Jose.
Once Elizabeth (the youngest) went off to college, Eileen tossed her alarm clock in the trash and enjoyed the company of friends and the avid pursuit of mystery novels and television shows from every European country. She also enjoyed random drive-abouts across the US, Canada, and the Southwest, where in a spirit of adventure these trips were made only on country roads. Eileen loved the sea and would frequently visit beaches along California’s beautiful coast.
In the spring Eileen’s remains will be interred beside her father, mother and brother at Fairview Cemetery in West Hartford, Connecticut.
Eileen was pre-deceased by her parents Aldo and Kay and her younger brother Carl. She is survived by her sister Laura, niece Tracy, nephews Bruce and Brian and several grand nieces and nephews.
If you wish to donate in memory of Eileen, please consider the Peace Corp’s Morocco Country Fund [https://www.peacecorps.gov/donate/country-funds/morocco-country-fund-378-cfd/] or any other charity that you support.
A graveside interment ceremony will be held on Saturday, June 29, 2024 at 11:00 AM (please try to arrive by 10:30 AM) a Fairview Cemetery, 200 Whitman Ave., West Hartford, Connecticut. The ceremony will be followed by a reception.
PS – The memorial ceremony here in California was really wonderful. Here is a link if your would like to view it
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uflgaYmkqSYiSPTPAFzNHh5oKy9-RYRL/view?usp=sharing
What’s your fondest memory of Eileen?
What’s a lesson you learned from Eileen?
Share a story where Eileen's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Eileen you’ll never forget.
How did Eileen make you smile?
