Eleanor Marie Hunsberger

On Friday September 23, 2022, Eleanor Hunsberger, loving partner and mother to three daughters passed away peacefully at home at the age of 84. Eleanor was born December 28, 1937 in Minneapolis, MN to Harvey D. and Frances Witherspoon. She was raised with her 9 siblings and attended school K-12 in North Minneapolis. Eleanor completed an undergraduate degree at Metropolitan State University in 1982. After graduation, she became the Co-Founder of MIBCA, a chemical dependency program for African Americans. In her professional life, she was always finding ways to give back to her community. In her personal life, Eleanor married John Jenkins and shared two daughters Rayni and Alana. Later in life she would graduate from Luther Northwestern Seminary with a Masters of Divinity in 1985. In 1986 she was called to serve as part time associate minister at Nokomis Heights Lutheran Church and later served as associate minister to All Saints Lutheran Church in Cottage Grove. Eventually, Eleanor married Martin Hunsberger and welcomed a third daughter Jennifer. Eleanor served as a minister until 1999 when she chose to retire. Her commitment to serving others continued. She began working with students at Harvest Preparatory Charter School with her daughter Alana for the next 10 years. After retiring a second time, Eleanor spent her days keeping busy with family and traveling with her partner Jan. She loved to play and win at board games, especially Yahtzee. She enjoyed going fishing and singing in the church choir. She loved to tell a good story that made everyone laugh. Next to God, family was the most important thing to Eleanor. She loved and was loved by many. She was truly a reflection of God's love. Eleanor was preceded in death by her parents Harvey D. and Frances Witherspoon, siblings Sonny, Shirley, Gloria, Duane, Diane, Juan and Patricia. She is survived by her loving partner of 20+ years Jan Nielsen, her three daughters Rayni, Alana (Karim), Jennifer (Joe), 8 grandchildren, many great-grandchildren, brother Harvey, sister Darnell and a number of cousins, nieces, nephews. The family of the late Eleanor Hunsberger wish to express their appreciation for your comforting words and genuine acts of kindness in our time of sadness. In lieu of flowers please donate to Eleanor's charities of choice. Her two main charities were Southern Poverty Law and the African American History Museum. Visitation to be held Thursday, September 29, 2022 at Washburn-McReavy Crystal Lake Chapel Dowling & Penn Ave North from 5:00pm-7:00pm. Funeral Service will be held Friday September 30th, 2022 at House of Hope Lutheran Church 4800 Boone Ave at 11 AM with visitation one hour prior.

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Eleanor Marie Hunsberger

December 28, 1937 - September 23, 2022

Tributes

Eleanor Marie Hunsberger

December 28, 1937 - September 23, 2022

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