Eleanor Bixby

Eleanor M. Bixby, age 91 of Erie, died at Independence Court on Wednesday, January 28, 2015.

She was born to the late Walter John and Florence Crishock on November 23, 1923.

Eleanor was a graduate of East High School, class of 1941, and Villa Maria College, class of 1945.

She worked at the Ohio Bell Telephone company in Cleveland, Ohio for three years, and on returning to Erie, served as a substitute teacher in the public high schools. She then took a position at Cathedral Prep, where she taught typing for 15 years. She was the first laywoman to teach there.

In her younger years, she and her family were members of St. Patrick’s Church. She was married there in 1949 to Chester Bixby, who died in 1996.

Her sister, Sr. Mary Ellen Crishock, SSJ, and three brothers, Walter, Thomas, and Richard, preceded her in death.

She is survived by two sisters, Mary Ann Barbieri, of Colorado Springs, and Dorothy Petersen (Richard) of Shelby Township, MI, and four sons: William (Dianne) of Pittsburgh, Chester (Paula) of Erie, Mark (Janice) of

Houston, TX, and Craig (Sandy) of Baltimore, MD. Nine grandchildren, six great grandchildren, and three good sisters-in-law, Jean Crishock, Joyce Crishock, both of Erie, and Bruna Crishock of Arlington, VA, and several nieces and nephews also survive her.

Friends may call at the Burton Funeral Home and Crematory, Inc. 602 West 10th St. on Tuesday from 5 pm to 7 pm and are invited to a Mass of Christian Burial on Wednesday at 10 am at St. Patrick’s Church, 130 East 4th St. with Reverend Michael DeMartinis presiding.

Burial in Trinity Cemetery.