Eleanor M. Kieliszek

Kieliszek, Eleanor (nee Manning) 91, former Mayor and long-time resident of Teaneck, passed away May 16, 2017. She is remembered as an energetic, dedicated community leader who worked to improve the lives of all Teaneck residents. Eleanor was the eldest of five children in an Irish-Catholic family that made a home in the Bronx during the Great Depression. After high school graduation at 16, Eleanor entered the banking field in Manhattan. Noted for her intelligence and work ethic, she was offered the opportunity to advance her job skills by enrolling at the American Institute of Banking. She was the only woman in the program at that time. In the early 1940’s, a large circle of friends kept her social life busy until Eleanor met her future husband, Raymond Kieliszek. Eleanor and Ray courted and later married in 1948. They shared more than 65 years together before Ray’s death in 2014. A house-hunting trip through Bergen County radically changed the young couple’s future when they drove through the town of Teaneck. The Kieliszeks along with their three toddlers, Mary, Cathy, and Frank, settled in a small Cape Cod house on Glenwood Avenue. Eleanor often remarked that Teaneck seemed like heaven when compared to New York City’s bustling streets and skyscrapers. Claire joined the family a decade later and the Kieliszeks resettled on Johnson Avenue, where they resided for the next 50 years. Eleanor’s lifetime of volunteering and public service began like many women of her generation with the PTA, Boy and Girl Scouts, and the League of Women Voters. A League assignment took Eleanor to Teaneck’s planning board meetings where she was often the only audience member in attendance. In 1965 her well-informed interest earned the attention of Mayor Feldman who eventually appointed her to the Teaneck planning board. She was the board’s first woman member. Land-use, city-planning, and zoning became a life-long study for Eleanor. In 1970 friends and family urged Eleanor to run for the Teaneck Township Council. She won a position on the council in a crowded, 17 candidate race. She was the first woman to do so. Eleanor credited knocking on doors and asking for votes as an opportunity to meet neighbors and make friends. Eleanor served on the township council for 30 years. In 1974, fellow council members chose to become the town’s first woman Mayor serving until 1978, then again from 1990-1992. While working for Teaneck’s benefit, Eleanor also held several full-time positions including secretary in the Residence Department of Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Teaneck campus. Being surrounded by students encouraged Eleanor to become a student herself. She earned a B.A. in political science and years later she proudly served as alumni trustee for FDU. Eleanor’s enthusiasm for politics was again demonstrated by her work on several statewide campaigns. The opportunity to learn more about New Jersey’s political climate was afforded by her role as administrator and legislative aid to popular assembly member Byron Baer from 1980 to 1985. A busy schedule did not preclude Eleanor from nurturing many life-long friendships or focusing on family. Eleanor had an extraordinary life of public service, a woman of energy and wisdom, Eleanor will be greatly missed by friends, family and her hometown of Teaneck. Eleanor is survived by her sister, Katherine O’Connor, three children and their spouses, daughter Catherine and her husband Gerald Cranford, Frank Kieliszek and his wife Margaret, and Claire and her husband Laurence Preschel; her seven grandsons: James and Patrick Kieliszek, David Cranford and Ian, Zachary, Harrison, and Noah Preschel. A memorial visitation will be held from 2pm-6pm, Thursday, May 25th, at Volk Leber Funeral Home, 789 Teaneck Rd., Teaneck, NJ. Funeral service from the funeral home 9am, Friday, May 26, then to St. Anastasia R.C. Church, Teaneck, for a 10am Mass of Christian Burial, under the direction of Volk Leber Funeral Home.