Ms. Eleanor Mary Guilford

Guilford, Eleanor Mary passed away on February 1, 2019 at the Carondelet Village in St. Paul, MN. Born May 24, 1918, she was 100 years old. Eleanor was the daughter of the late Judge Paul W. Guilford and Ella Griswold Guilford. Her brother Richard Guilford and sister Margaret Allyn also predeceased her, as did her nephew, William Guilford. She is survived by her beloved nieces and nephews, Mary Plumb, Dale Guilford, Barbara Turner, John Allyn, Richard Allyn, and R. Bruce Allyn. Eleanor graduated from high school at Mt. St. Mary Academy, Little Rock, Ark in 1938. She went on to earn a BA in Social Work from the University of New Mexico in 1942 and a Master's degree from the University of Chicago School of Social Service in 1948. Although she grew up in Minneapolis and passed away in St. Paul, MN, Eleanor lived virtually her entire adult life in San Francisco and Santa Rosa, CA. Starting in 1955, Eleanor devoted her professional working career to several branches of Catholic Social Services and Catholic Charites of San Francisco. This included serving as Executive Director of the Catholic Committee for the Aging for San Francisco County. Her 1984 retirement did not stop her from continuing as a volunteer. She served in a private version of the Peace Corps in Peru and traveled extensively in aid to the needs of children and the aged. Eleanor was an active and passionate outdoors person. She loved to hike and cross-country ski and did so well into her 80's. Her active membership in the Sierra Club Redwood Chapter was one of the great joys of her life. She worked as a state parks docent including at Jack London State Park near her Santa Rosa retreat in Oakmont Village. She accomplished the spectacular feat of hiking the entire length of the 2638 mile Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. Starting in 1978, she spent two weeks every summer completing a section of the trail, backpacking entirely alone, finishing in 1989 at the British Columbia border monument. She was 71. She wrote a marvelous book of her journey, One Hundred Mile Summers (Regent Press, 2005). There will be a family graveside service at Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, MN., on July 27 this summer.

Tributes

Ms. Eleanor Mary Guilford

May 24, 1918 - February 1, 2019

Tributes

Ms. Eleanor Mary Guilford

May 24, 1918 - February 1, 2019

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