Eleanor F. de Venecia

Eleanor Frances Shearer de Venecia, 89, passed on October 31, 2024. Eleanor was a loving, kind, and generous mother, grandmother, sibling, and friend. She enjoyed cooking, baking, attending the theatre, and hosting celebrations for her loved ones. She was known for elaborate holiday decorations and fashionably coordinated outfits. She was a talented seamstress, embroiderer, and ornament crafter. Most of all, she loved spending time with her family and friends.

Eleanor was born to Zelda and Francis Shearer on September 3, 1935, in Cumberland, Maryland. After graduating from Allegany High School in 1953, she attended the University of Maryland School of Nursing. She graduated in 1956 and began her career as a nurse at Johns Hopkins Hospital. There she met her husband Nestor de Venecia, whom she married on April 2, 1961.

The couple moved to the Philippines in 1962, and Eleanor became active in the Pangasinan Medical Society. There in Nestor’s home country, their three children, Larry, Ron, and Brenda, were born.

The family returned to the United States in 1968, moving to Bladensburg, Maryland. Eleanor was very active in her children’s schools, and she was known for baking cakes for all their teachers. In 1974, the family moved to Howard County, Maryland.

Eleanor worked alongside her husband at their private practice in Columbia, Maryland from 1974 to 1992. She then worked for the Howard County Health Department until she retired. Eleanor was beloved by her patients and coworkers, who regaled her as a pillar of the medical community.

After retirement, she found joy in caring for and entertaining her grandchildren. She spent countless hours playing dress up, reading, watching classic movies, and pretending to lose at checkers with her granddaughters. She was an excellent teacher in the kitchen, inspiring a love of cooking and baking in her eldest granddaughter. She also cultivated a beautiful garden, and her green thumb has been passed down through the generations.

Eleanor Frances Shearer de Venecia was the devoted daughter of the late Francis Shearer and Zelda Sires Shearer; beloved wife of the late Nestor Flor de Venecia; loving mother of Ronald K. de Venecia (Christine Carter), Brenda Aileen de Venecia-Cawley (Walter J. Cawley) and the late Nestor Lawrence de Venecia; cherished grandmother of Gabriella Aileen de Venecia Cawley, Isabella Juliette de Venecia Cawley, Nestor Xavier de Venecia and Van Xander de Venecia; dear sister of Bobbi Nicodemus, Charles Shearer, Fay Sanson (Dewey Sanson), Susan Foor (Darrell Foor). Also survived by many loving relatives and friends.

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