Eleanor Spiegel
On Wednesday, December 23, 2020, our beautiful mother, grandmother and friend Eleanor Spiegel of Portland, passed away at the age of 89 after a short illness.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1931 to Jack and Lillian Ostroff, Ellie, as she was known to everyone who knew and loved her, grew up in a loving household with her parents and beloved brother Ira.
She graduated from New Utrecht High School in Brooklyn and went on to attend CCNY and Brooklyn College to study bookkeeping, as her mathematical acumen was demonstrated when she finished first in the citywide Regents exam. She then met and fell in love with Harold Spiegel during a ski trip with a group of friends in 1958. They wed later that year.
Soon thereafter, they started a family and in 1967 moved to Portland. Ellie did the bookkeeping for Hal’s company, Pine State Hardware, and also for a local business. Ellie and Hal retired to Delray Beach, Florida, in 1993 and lived an extremely active life until Harold’s passing in 2012.
In 2017, Ellie moved back to Portland to be closer to her children and grandchildren.
Ellie was involved in a variety of activities and also volunteered and held officer positions in several organizations. She was an active member of the Jewish Community Center Women’s Club, Temple Beth El, B’Nai B’rith, the Human Growth Foundation, as well as various Bridge clubs. She was an avid tennis player, competitive bowler, and along with her husband achieved the dubious distinction as a Bridge Life Master. She loved social gatherings with friends and family and would say “I do not want to just go out to eat, I want to dine.” which to her put more emphasis on conversations and time together than the food.
She fought for a “round table” when dining to allow for everyone to be central to the social proceedings. Ellie was an avid moviegoer as well, loved watching television, and was always juggling a couple of VCR's recording her favorite shows, tennis matches, gymnastics and ice skating competitions. She was passionate about her five children’s wellbeing and happiness and up to the end of her life wanted to hear everything that was transpiring with them and their children. She always loved visits with her children and grandchildren, especially at Thanksgiving when the whole family was together. She was the persona of what a mom should be.
Ellie was preceded in death by her husband Harold, father Jack, mother Lillian, brother Ira, and grandson Kyle.
She is survived by her children Ciarra Lodin of Lakewood Ranch, Florida; Scott Spiegel of Portland; Rick Spiegel, wife Barbara, and their children Irina, Alexandra, Talia, and Halina of South Portland; Lonni Reasor, husband Eric, and their children Jaden and Aubree of Fairfax, Virginia; and Brad Spiegel, his wife Janet, and their children Julia and Harrison of Saco.
In lieu of flowers, please feel free to donate to the American Diabetes Foundation at www.diabetes.org/donate/donate-memorial
Online condolences may be expressed below.
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