Suzanne S. Eichacker

Suzanne S. Eichacker, of Rockport, Maine, passed away peacefully on Feb. 22, 2011, after a long illness.

She was born on Dec. 22, 1933, in Syracuse, N.Y., the daughter of the late Edward and Anna Skelton of East Longmeadow, Mass. Sue graduated from Pawling High School, Pawling, N.Y., as class salutatorian in 1951 and from Simmons College in Boston in 1955 with a Bachelor of Science in physics. She took her skills to California at the Naval Ordinance Lab at Corona where she worked on the Sidewinder Missile project. Sue and her husband, Dick, ultimately settled in Vernon for 32 years, where they raised their family. While in Vernon, Sue was an active member of the Talcottville Congregational Church, Vernon Junior Women's League, and Connecticut Valley Girl Scouts. She was also a teacher, then owner/operator of the Community Nursery School in Talcottville. Sue loved to sew and also taught sewing classes nights to hundreds of women over the years. She was an avid amateur radio operator, earning the license of Extra, the highest attainable, where she enjoyed communicating with people all over the world. Sue also loved to travel and especially enjoyed her annual trips to Bermuda with longtime friends for nearly 30 years. In 1982, Sue took her career in a completely different direction and enrolled at the Computer Processing Institute in East Hartford, graduating with a computer programming degree where she took that skill and worked for Aetna in Middletown as a senior programming analyst for 10 years. In 1992, Sue and her husband retired to Rockport, Maine, in a beautiful home overlooking Penobscot Bay where she enjoyed her golden years. Sue was an active member of the Rockland Congregational Church, volunteered for years at the Rockland Area Interfaith Outreach food pantry, and loved volunteering at the Marshall Point Lighthouse Museum where she managed the gift shop and shared local history with the many visitors during the summer months. Her favorite place in the world was the family summer property in Tenants Harbor where she enjoyed family gatherings, visiting with the cottage renters, and enjoying the sights and sounds of the harbor from the porch of the family cottage.

Sue is survived by her husband of 55 years, Richard Eichacker; her daughter, Cynthia Dreher, and her husband, Lawrence, of Topsham, Maine, and their children, Jeffrey, Alison, and Stephen, and their families all of Maine; her son, Stephen Eichacker, and his wife, Darlene, of Tolland, and their children, Rachael and Nathan; and a brother, William Skelton, and his wife, Gail, of Stevens Point, Wis., and their daughter, Rebecca, and her family of Golden Valley, Minn. She is also survived by five great-grandchildren.

Calling hours will be held Friday, March 4, 2011, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Burpee, Carpenter, and Hutchins Funeral Home, 110 Limerock St., Rockland.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, March 5, 2011, at 1 p.m. at the Rockland Congregational Church, 180 Limerock St., Rockland.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Area Interfaith Outreach, P.O. Box 113, Rockland, ME 04841, Rockland Congregational Church Abiding Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 554, Rockland, ME 04841, or Marshall Point Lighthouse, P.O. Box, 247, Port Clyde, ME 04855.

For online condolences please visit

www.bchfh.com