Eileen Theresa (McCabe) Wimberger died on March 19, 2020, at the age of 93, after a brief acute illness. She was at home in Marion, Massachusetts, surrounded by family. She was loving, listening, and aware of how beloved she was to her family and many, many people beyond through her dying day.
Eileen had been happily married since 1949 to John W. Wimberger, who died in 2003.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, on September 20, 1926, the only daughter of the late James E. and Ann (Lenhart) McCabe, Eileen was raised in Glendale, Queens. As an adult she lived in Williston Park, New York, Hamden, Connecticut, and Ramsey, New Jersey. In 2019 she moved to Marion, Massachusetts, to be more central to her five daughters.
Eileen was known and beloved to so many people because she lived to love others and to care especially for those less fortunate than she. While in Hamden, she organized her first rummage sale for the benefit of children in Africa and later for those in local disadvantaged schools. This became a major annual event in New Jersey, where the family moved in 1971. Her garage was always overflowing with donations for the huge sale she and her committee organized in their parish, St. Paul’s, which she used as a platform for her good deeds. Eileen and John were instrumental in creating the first Social Concerns Committee at St. Paul’s, which facilitated multiple levels of service to individuals in need.
Eileen trained as a Hospice Volunteer when the organization was relatively new in the United States, and John followed her example when he retired. She advocated for people without homes, distributed food certificates, volunteered with FISH to transport people to medical care, found furniture and cars for individuals without, and was simply there for anyone with any need that she became aware of. She was the local driver of “seniors” younger than she until her 91st year.
She was a deeply involved grandmother and was grateful to live close enough to several of her grandchildren to help raise them. She visited her daughters and their families as often as she could; all her daughters, their partners, and grandchildren spent every Christmas of their lives at her warm and welcoming home. On holidays and throughout the year, her home was open to friends of all ages, many of whom saw Eileen as an adopted mother, whether or not they had their own.
After people, Eileen loved all dogs; her own were mutts taken in from the loss of a caretaker or some other misfortune. This includes her beloved Maisy, who survives her and remains part of the family. Eileen was a fine traditional cook and baker who also loved music, from Broadway show tunes to ballet to jazz guitar (John Pizzarelli). She enjoyed crosswords, bowling, playing cards, feeding the birds, watching Jeopardy! and Rachel Maddow. She was a lifelong liberal. She played her last Scrabble game with two of her daughters just four days before she died.
Perhaps more than anything, Eileen and John loved being at the beach, preferably for the entire day, especially on Cape Cod, giving equal time to ocean, bay, and pond. They gave their daughters, one and all, a passionate love of being near water, especially all together.
Eileen’s survivors include her five daughters: Mary Wimberger Auslander and her wife, Sharon Sandstrum, of New Harbor, Maine, Anne Wimberger Murphy and husband Frank of Marion, Massachusetts, Margaret Wimberger and husband Marshall Glickman of South Newfane, Vermont, Regina Wimberger Clark and her husband, Gerry, of Ridgewood, New Jersey, and Louisa Wimberger of Northampton, Massachusetts; her cousin, Rosemary "Bubbles" Hunt; seven grandchildren: Joseph Aloi, Nora McNicol, Douglas McNicol, Sophie Glickman, Katharine Clark, Lena Glickman and Sarah Clark; and three great-grandchildren, Twyla Aloi, Sayer Aloi, and Molly Strout.
A celebration of Eileen’s life is planned for late September in New Jersey. In lieu of flowers, contributions that would mean very much to Eileen can be made to Southcoast Visiting Nurse Association in Massachusetts and/or Equal Justice Initiative.
Arrangements are with the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, who will also post information about the Celebration of Life service for Eileen when the date and location are certain.
For online condolence book, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.