Eleanor de Grange Heath

1927 - 2021

Eleanor de Grange Heath
October 30, 1927 - January 4, 2021
Chapel Hill, North Carolina - Eleanor de Grange Heath of Chapel Hill died on January 4, 2021, after a short illness, at the Carolina Meadows retirement community. Born on October 30, 1927, in Winchester, Virginia, she was the daughter of H. Clay de Grange and Virginia Ensminger Steck de Grange.
Eleanor grew up in Winchester, where her father was in the apple business. She attended Briarcliff Junior College and then UNC-Chapel Hill, prior to completing undergraduate work at Barnard College in New York as a math major. While there, she met Milton Heath ( when both were singing in the Columbia University choir), and the two were married in 1951. The Heaths lived in New York City, Albany, NY, and Knoxville TN, before settling in Chapel Hill in 1957. They had three children, Margaret, Charlie, and Frank. After divorcing from Milton in 1969, Eleanor remained in Chapel Hill where she appreciated the relaxed college town atmosphere and progressive ethos.
After earning a Master's Degree from the UNC School of Social Work in 1967, Eleanor worked at the Duke Child Guidance Clinic and private practice as a psychiatric social worker.
A lifelong student, she later took classes at UNC in history, French, accounting, and classical literature. She also toured the U.S. in a camper with her dog, Helga; and lived for an extended period with a family in France. Travels also took her to Alaska, Egypt, Italy, Greece, the Amazon; and frequently to her beloved N.C. & Virginia mountains.
Over the years, Eleanor's family expanded to include a small circle of close friends, all of whom she watched over with common-sense wisdom, affection, and concern.
Those who knew Eleanor remember her as a kind, generous and open-minded person who was patient, deliberate, and extraordinarily consistent. She had a gift for listening and gave matter of fact opinions tinged with pragmatic optimism. She wasn't a fancy cook, but her casseroles, mashed potatoes, and Apple Crisp were delicious. She treasured her pets and almost always kept at least one cat - typically an adopted stray or shelter animal - as a companion.
Dance was a lifelong passion for Eleanor. She took ballet growing up and studied one summer under Martha Graham and Joseph Pilates at Jacob's Pillow. In Chapel Hill, she continued dance classes at Bounds Studio and attended multiple performances each summer at the American Dance Festival.
In later years, Eleanor focused on the study of Buddhism and mindfulness meditation, and she even led meditation classes for fellow residents at Carolina Meadows.
Eleanor was devoted to family, and she enjoyed keeping up with her nieces and nephews and their evolving families. She especially appreciated seeing her grandchildren Eli and Liana grow up.
Eleanor is survived by her children: Margaret, Charlie, and Frank Heath, by daughter-in-law Zevey Steinitz, grandchildren Eli Heath and Liana Heath, and by her beloved black cat, Pali.
She is also survived by nieces Elizabeth Nance ( husband Charles), Anne Uher, and Virginia Carroll; nephews Roger Kern ( wife Theresa) and Thomas Kern (wife Patricia); by grandnieces Cynthia Uher Magnani, Susan Uher Jimenez, Caroline Nance Wingenbach, Mary Page Nance, and grandnephew Thomas Kern, Jr.; and by several great-grandnieces and grand-nephews.
On Milton's side of the family, Eleanor is survived by brother-in-law Robert Heath, by nephews Edward Heath and Robert Heath (wife Cecelia); and by nieces Elizabeth Ann Chorvat ( husband Terry), and Clara Neyhardt (husband Greg); and by grandnephew Christopher Neyhardt and grandniece Emily Clara Turner.
Eleanor was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Dorothy de Grange and half-sister Mary Virginia "Chi-Chi" Steck Kern; by her former husband Milton; and by her beloved stepmother-in-law, Lillian Mae Heath.
Donations in Eleanor's memory may be made to Buddist Global Relief Fund or Independent Animal Rescue.