Eleanor J. (Jackson) Thoresen of Needham died on Thursday August 7, 2008 at the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Needham. Born in Cranston, RI Eleanor was raised in Providence where she graduated from Hope St. High School in 1934. She graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in Mathematics in 1938. Eleanor received her employable skills from Katherine Gibbs and continued her education receiving a Master’s degree in Education from Columbia and her M.E. d in Mathematics from Northeastern University. During WWII Eleanor worked for ITT in New York. She taught Mathematics and French and also taught French at the Adult Education Center in Boston. Eleanor loved to write, she was an author of numerous published articles and short stories which appeared in the Christian Science Monitor and many magazines and journals. She was an avid reader and loved to travel. Eleanor with her husband Philip B. moved to Needham in 1950 . The family joined the First Baptist Church in Needham where Eleanor became an active parishioner participating in many of the church’s activities and events. Her husband Philip later died in 1973. Eleanor was the loving mother of Andrew N. Thoresen of Needham, Jan Turner and her husband Jesse of The Villages, FL and Wendy A. Thoresen and her husband Horace H. Beaven Jr. of Lafayette, CO. Dear grandmother of Erik and Scott Turner and Austin and Amy Beaven. Sister of the late Frederick and Edward Jackson. Funeral services at the Eaton Funeral Home 1351 Highland Ave Needham on Tuesday August 12th at 1:00 PM. Relatives and friends are kindly invited. Interment will take place in Swan Point Cemetery in Providence. In lieu flowers memorials may be made to Alzheimer’s Assoc., Mass Chapter 311 Arsenal St. Watertown MA 02472.