McEachen, Eileen Joyce. Born on July 8, 1928 in Evanston, Illinois, died August 14, 2023 in Ojai, California from complications due to a fall in her home. Eileen moved to Santa Monica, California with her parents Elwood James Joyce, Mae Riggs and brother Elwood (Woody) Joyce at the end of The Great Depression when her father found work at North American Aviation as a mathematician. She attended and graduated from Saint Monica's High School during World War Two and throughout her young life studied ballet and developed a reputation as an accomplished dancer. In her early adulthood she was auditioned by a well-known choreographer and offered placement with the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo. Eileen considered and declined this opportunity in favor of marriage and family and in 1956 wed James A. McEachen MD, a young physician in the new field of cardiology, who she met while working for Dr. William Longmire, UCLA's first chief of surgery. Dr. McEachen became the founder of the Cardovascular program at Saint John's Hospital in Santa Monica and together they had three boys, who they raised in Encino and Santa Monica. Eileen was devoted to her family, and her husband credited her with much of his success in the early days of cardiac health care. With the demands of her husband's career, Eileen embraced her role as the primary parent and caregiver for her growing boys. She loved family ski holidays at June Mountain in the High Sierra, and boating adventures to Catalina and the Channel Islands on their 31-foot sailboat. In later years she would lavish her five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren with the same love and adoration that she bestowed on her sons. In recent years she loved her travels to Italy, Greece, Ireland and the South Seas with her eldest son and his wife, Doreen Palermo. Eileen lived a long, productive, and active life devoted to family, her sons, and their families. She moved to Ojai in 2010, where she made friends easily and charmed all she met. Eileen was graceful and gracious, warm and kind, and she will be missed by everyone who knew her. She is survived by her three sons, Jim, Brian, and Greg, daughters-in-law, Doreen Palermo, Janice McEachen and Wendy McEachen, her five grandchildren, Kellan, Ian, Kaitlyn, Marissa, Melanie and her four great-grandchildren.
A memorial mass will be celebrated for family and friends at St. Thomas Aquinas church in Ojai on Tuesday, August 29, 2023 at 5:30pm with a reception following at her son's home in Ojai: 730 El Paso Road, Ojai 93023. Funeral directors: Joseph P. Reardon Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 757 E. Main Street, Ventura, CA 93001. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to "Family to Family" in Ventura, California.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to "Family to Family" in Ventura California.
https://familytofamilyvc.org