Eileen Wright

Eileen Ruth was born January 9, 1928, daughter of Mildred and Clarence Seidler. She felt special because her birthday was 1–9–28 (1928). Eileen was named after her mother’s best friend, Eileen, and her dad’s sister, Ruth. She grew up in Silverton, Ohio. She was baptized at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church. Eileen attended kindergarten at Kennedy Heights School and first through eighth grades at Our Redeemer Lutheran School. Her dad was her teacher for all eight grades in the church basement one room school. Eileen attended Walnut Hills High School, graduating in 1946. During that time, she was a volunteer and Candy Striper at Christ Hospital and worked weekends and summers at Shillito’s in downtown Cincinnati. She sang in the church choir and taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. She was taught piano by her dad. Eileen’s desire to become a registered nurse was reached in 1949 when she graduated from Bethesda Hospital School of Nursing and past her state boards.

Meeting Weldon Dean Wright at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church was one of the greatest joys of her life. They married October 15, 1949 and were blessed with four children; Joellen Louise, Edward Dean, Steven Arthur, and Paul Christian. Eileen was a stay at home mom until Paul, the youngest, was in the second grade. There was never a week that went by that Eileen wasn’t doing some volunteer nursing help for a friend or acquaintance. One highlight was meeting Dr. Salk and helping him administer Salk vaccine to small children. Another was doing private duty at Children’s Hospital for a friend whose infant daughter had been overdosed with medication. She never minded being called in the middle of the night to help someone.  Having a loving and helping husband permitted her to help others as he often cared for the children. Family was so important to her. She loved having get-togethers with her parents and her sisters, Helen Louise and Joanne, and their families. Mom and Popsy Wright, Dean’s mom and dad, would live six months with Eileen, Dean, and family and spend six months in their home in Florida until 1965 when they moved in for all the year because of their health.

From January through April, Eileen did volunteer income tax preparations for 20 years at Our Savior Church in Norwood and for 10 years for the hearing impaired. She was known to give candy kisses after preparing taxes for clients. She would thank them for the opportunity to help them and say she would like to give them a kiss. Then she would give them a candy kiss. It usually brought a smile to many faces. Eileen was led to work as Director of Nursing in a nursing home for about six months. She gave God thanks and praise for permitting her to learn to care for the elderly. It helped her to understand them and family feeling. When it was time to care for Mom and Popsy Wright, she and Dean were able to keep them in their home and lovingly care for them even when they no longer recognized them as family due to dementia.

Eileen assisted the Upjohn Company in developing the standard and procedures for their home healthcare services. She was nursing director and manager of offices in Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and Erlanger.

When Eileen’s son-in-law, Ken Bagwell, was critically injured, she retired from the Upjohn Company to be emotionally supportive of Joellen and the family. In 1982, after the death of her mother and seeing the confusion over all the medical bills, Eileen took classes it became a volunteer certified medical insurance counselor for the State of Ohio. She volunteered at Christ and Jewish hospitals helping seniors with medical insurance problems. She continued to help friends and referrals as long as she could.

Seven grandchildren were her delight. She like lying on the bed with the little ones, turning on the ceiling fan and pretending all kind of fun things.... helicopter rides, balloon rides, and telling Squeaky the Squirrel stories that she loved to make up. Then there were games. Eileen always admitted to being a “gamey” person. She enjoyed cards and board games, watching basketball games, and being a member of the Mason Senior Pep Club. Even though she wasn’t a golfer, she enjoyed watching golf, but she called it Dean’s “hoof and mouth” disease. He “hoofed” all day on the golf course and “mouthed” about it all night long. She would say that with a smile knowing that Dean really enjoyed his golfing. Dogs were Eileen’s favorite pets, although she did allow the children to hatch chickens in the garage. They also had a spider monkey, a squirrel monkey, ducks, hamsters, parakeets, canaries, aquariums, and cats. The cats were born in the family room with all the family and the dog attending. Eileen always said that was a big mistake. The dog developed a false pregnancy and began nursing the kittens. (They say you can tell people by the animals they have. Wow!)

In 1996, Eileen and Dean moved into their cottage at Mason Christian Village. She was so thrilled and happy to be there. While living there, she continued in volunteer work. She was a member of the Ambassador’s Chorus, served as secretary for six years on the Cottage Resident Council, worked with the Gift Shop, and enjoyed being a member of the village Red Hatters Society.

 

Eileen Ruth Seidler Wright, beloved wife of the late Weldon Dean Wright is home with Jesus May11, 2015. Survivors include A loving daughter Joellen Vash and her husband, Paul; Three caring sons: Edward Wright and his wife, Paula; Steven Wright; Paul Wright and his wife, Kathy; Loving grandchildren: Julie and Irina Vash, Eddie Wright and Eric (Alyson) Wright, Kirsten (Matt) Cranston, Bethany (Matt) Fairchild, Matthew (Andrea) Wright; Great grandchildren Kaleb and Andrew Wright, Luke Fairbanks, and Bennett and Rowyn Wright. Loving Sisters and best friends Helen Louise Robertson and Joanne Biedinger, brother-in-law Dick Biedinger and many nieces, nephews and friends. Visitation at Hodapp Funeral Home 8815 Cincinnati Columbus Rd. West Chester, Ohio Thursday, May 14, from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. and at Mason Christian Village Chapel, 411 Western Row, Mason, Ohio Friday from 10AM until Funeral Service at 11AM, followed by interment at Rest Haven, Blue Ash. Memorials may be directed to The Christian Benevolent Association, Mason Christian Village or the charity of your choice. Condolences to hodappfuneralhome.com