Eleanor Jane Baribault (Trombley)

98 years of a life well lived, now living in peaceful eternity with our Lord & Savior. Predeceased by her loving husband of 52 years, Joseph Arthur Baribault; sister Marjorie Rena (Ed) Koehler; brother Edward Bernard (Lee) Trombley.

She is survived by her daughter, Cindy (Bill) Keller; grandchildren, Mark (Shawna Gee) Keller, Michelle (Steve) Bernhardt; cherished nieces, & nephews; her family in New England; Angel friends, Fred (Joanne) Koch, & Marie Carole; and her newfound cousins through genealogy.

Eleanor’s visitation will be held on Friday, May 23, from 4-7 pm at the funeral home, 1411 Vintage Lane, 14626. Her Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, May 24 at 10 AM at St. Mark’s Church, 54 Kuhn Rd. 14612. Eleanor will be laid to rest in White Haven Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Rochester School for the Deaf, 1545 St. Paul Street, Rochester, NY 14621, or Camp Mark Steven, 144 Mohawk Hotel Road, Old Forge, NY 13420

My Mom was born on February 20, 1927, in Syracuse, N.Y. She was the firstborn of Rena and Berlin Reginald Trombley. Her mother named her Eleanor Jane because she liked the name Eleanor, and her middle name Jane was inspired by her great-grandmother, Rhoda Jane Finch Sager. A year later, her sister Marjorie Rena was born. Mom’s parents then moved to East Rochester in 1928 after her dad got a job at Gleason Works. A year later, in 1929, Mom’s brother, Edward Bernard, was born. Mom loved her little sister and brother, played with them often and probably got into trouble, as a result.

My grandmother recalled caring for three young kids as having been more than a handful! My Mom told me that her parents were unaware that she was deaf until a doctor’s examination at three years old. She explained to me that she was never given a cause for her deafness, always remaining a mystery to her.

When she was five years old, she enrolled in the Rochester School for the Deaf (RSD). My grandmother told me that was the hardest thing she ever did – dropping my Mom off at RSD. Back then, the students lived in dorms and rarely went home (except for holidays).

The girl’s dormitory had a supervisor who taught the girls how to keep clean, and neat, where Mom learned how to make her bed: the right way. The supervisor would have a chart on the wall showing the list of girls’ names with several gold stars. Mom said she noticed that she didn’t have a gold star and asked the supervisor about it. She explained to Mom that she hadn’t made her bed: the right way. Well, Mom was not going to let it go; she persisted in attaining the gold star status. Then, one day, she noticed her name on the chart with gold stars; she had finally made her bed: the right way.

A new school building was constructed in 1941 when the old schoolhouse became overcrowded. One day, there was a special open house; big crowds came not only to celebrate the new building, but they were also welcoming a special guest to their school.

The girls were led to the living room where special guest Helen Keller was standing by the fireplace. Mom said that she was beautiful and charming. Helen Keller smelled the air in the room and told the girls they smelled like flowers. That was a day Mom cherished and never forgot.

Mom excelled at RSD – not only in academics – playing basketball, baseball, field hockey, including swimming at the local YMCA. She also participated in stage acting, tap dancing, ballet and chorus singing. She was active in school clubs: Lambdaa Phi Phi Society, Triangle Club, and Sewing Club. The girls often walked from school to the Riviera Theater to catch a movie, and though they couldn’t listen to the words, they still enjoyed seeing the romance and action shown in the movies.

Later, in her school years, Mom became a monitor at the dorm. She was tasked with ensuring the girls awoke on time and made their beds: the right way. Mom graduated from RSD in 1948. I thank my Grandma Rena daily, because it was the perfect start at life for a girl like Mom.

After RSD, Mom got a job at Taylor Instruments Company and worked there from 1948 to 1957.

I would like to share an interesting story about Mom’s intro to her Faith and discovering who God was. One day, she and her sister Marge, and Marge’s friend saw that there was a wedding at a church, so they sat in the back to watch the wedding. She reminisced about how awestruck she was by the beauty of both the church and the ceremony. As Mom admired the beauty, she shared with me that her eyes went to the Cross of Jesus. She remembered feeling puzzled by this, attempting then to understand why. Her persistence in finding answers about God and faith were answered, as she converted to Catholicism in 1953 after meeting Father John Gallagher, pastor at St. Francis De Sales Deaf Chapel. I will return to this story in a moment.

My Mom met my dad, Joseph Arthur Baribault, at a St. Patrick’s Day party at church. My dad had been deaf since he was nine years old. He was one of six children and grew up in Lewiston, Maine. His dad was a Spanish-American War Veteran and talented musician. Dad left school after the eighth grade, as his father died when he was young, so he went to work to help his family. Later in life, dad had a tough time looking for work. His brother Ed encouraged him to come to Rochester, NY to find work at a company called Eastman Kodak. This turned out to be sound advice, as my dad came to Rochester, and despite facing some initial obstacles, he was hired at Kodak and met a very special woman.

Mom and Dad married on September 22, 1951. Mom continued to work at Taylor Instrument for ten years until she became pregnant with me. I was born October 17, 1957. She named me Cynthia because she liked the name; my middle name Marie came from my dad’s mom, Marie Baribault.

We moved to our new home in Greece in 1958. Growing up with deaf parents was interesting. I remember being very young and wondering why my parents were different. I remember my Aunt Marguerite, my dad’s sister, or I should say Sister Marguerite, sitting me down and talking to me about my parents. I would soon learn that being deaf didn’t make them different; it made them special. I would very quickly learn the manual alphabet to spell words to them, and later some of the ASL signs, something I have not mastered yet, to this day. My parents were excellent lip readers, and I became very good at acting out what I was trying to say – no matter how strange it looked; they caught on very quickly with me. TVs did not have captions back then. We watched a lot of action TV, as well as comedies; our favorites were Laurel and Hardy, Mr. Bean and Carol Burnett.

We took many family trips together, the best of which were our trips to Maine to visit my dad’s family. Mom loved her Maine family. One funny thing about my dad’s family – no one went by their first name; Dad was Uncle Arthur, Mom was Aunt Jane, and my dad’s sister Aunt Gert called all the kids tootsies. I love my Maine cousins. Later after my dad retired, they took many trips together; Europe, Hawaii, National Parks in The West, California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, and various cruises… taking hundreds of photos and 8mm movies. They had all the Kodak cameras, including their 35mm camera; they were excellent photographers.

Mom was a stay-at-home Mom, and I loved that. She was a very active volunteer, helping out wherever her gift of organization and fast-typing served others best. In the 1960s, when Father Erdle became the new moderator for the deaf at St. Francis De Sales Chapel, mom was selected as an officer, serving as secretary for ten years. She was involved with the deaf church in Rochester as it evolved from St. Francis De Sales Chapel for the deaf, to St. Joseph’s Church, and to St. Mary’s Church where mass was held for the deaf every week. Father Erdle was eventually transferred St. Mark’s Church, and mom and dad followed.

Mom was involved in the International Catholic Deaf Association (ICDA) and was secretary for the Rochester region. In 1969, she was involved with the committee of the New York State Regional Conference in Rochester, N.Y. where Bishop Fulton Sheen was a guest. She traveled to conventions across the United States, selected as a delegate to represent Rochester. In 1975, she wrote a bio about herself as a candidate for ICDA Woman of the Year. Being a delegate three times for ICDA and lifetime member, she co-wrote the constitution and bylaws for the Rochester Chapter. With her involvement and work she was recognized and awarded ICDA Women of the Year in 1975.

She dove into genealogy which helped her connect with our new cousins and family dating back to the 1600’s. Back then, everything was done through visits to the library and requesting information by mail. She typed all the information into our family charts. There are probably over twelve volumes of binders of family history, all authored by mom from the research she found. She loved our family history.

She also loved counted cross-stitching, and for several years, she turned out many beautiful works of art, many of which were framed and given as gifts.
Dad was an avid golfer and introduced Mom to golf and there was never a beautiful day that went by that they weren’t golfing with friends and having lunch after; this is something that I inherited. They were not just good at golf; they were great. They also did an amazing job teaching me how to golf; Dad would say, “head down, don’t peek, and let the club do the work.” I hear that in my head whenever I play, to this day.

After Dad passed away from cancer in 2003, Mom continued to live in her home until she saw Orchard View Apartments in Greece and decided this would be a good move. She became good friends with the people in her building. In October 2024, she moved to assisted living at the Village at Penfield. I visited her often, and I asked her why she didn’t like to join in the activities. She told me she loved the staff; however, the people were too old for her. I still took her to appointments, and afterwards we went to her favorite, the Parkway Diner, for lunch and tea.

Mom loved sports, women’s basketball, college football, NFL football and, of course, she loved the Buffalo Bills and the New York Yankees. She would often write notes on the Sports section of the newspaper when she gave it to me – noting how good or bad a game was played and whether they needed to try harder; her favorite saying was, ‘Oh boy, what a game!’

Mom and Dad loved my husband, Bill; after all Bill is Catholic and worked at Kodak. They were proud of their grandchildren Mark and Michelle, and later with love, welcoming into our family Michelle’s husband Steve. And for Mark, Shauna.

Mom’s life was a life well-lived, abundantly loved, smiling, joking, laughing, poking fun at herself, hugging always, always saying I love you, and never missing a family or friend’s birthday. When I visited, she would tell me, “Oh today is so and so’s birthday.” Sometimes I would say, “who is that, mom?” and she would tell me, “oh that’s your third cousin twice removed on your grandmother’s side.” If you were family or a close friend, she knew your birthday and how old you’d be turning. She loved her family deeply.

And so, her life’s journey of family, school, marriage, and most importantly, her faith in God, formed her into the woman she became, and the Mom I will always remember. And now Mom, just as you would always thank me, I want to thank you for being the best Mom a kid could ever have.

Dinah Shore kisses and I Love You (in ASL sign). I know you are literally over the moon in heaven, saying Oh Boy, and your body and ears perfect once again. In your final days, you told me that we are always… the same… always. And you also told me… don’t worry, someone will take me home. That’s right Mom, someone did take you home, and He will take us All home someday to be reunited once again.

I would like to thank the ASL interpreters at Midnight Kommunications. J.Jay, Bonnie and I became fast friends. I would have been lost without their help during Mom’s hospital admissions. I would like to thank the caring staff at The Village at Penfield Assisted Living, as well as the staff at St. Ann’s Rehab, and for the loving care from staff towards Mom’s end of life journey at the Leo Caring Center.

I would like to thank Mom’s special Angel Friends whom my parents met here at St. Mark’s Church: Fred and Jo-Ann Koch, Marie and Florence Carole. My mom’s Angel friends have now become family to me.

And last, but not least, I want to thank my beautiful family, my cousins, my friends, my sister-friends, my Naz sisters, my golf friends who are family to me; thank you for your prayers and support. I will always remember your encouragement, kindness and hugs. It has meant so much to me. I love you and thank you.