Eloise O'Leary never took lessons in cake decorating, but she once offered to whip up a wedding cake for a cousin who was getting married.
The three-tier, intricately decorated confection turned out so well that friends and family members from then on turned to her to bake cakes for their own special occasions. "She loved to bake, and to try fancy things," recalled her sister, Sally O'Leary of New Sewickley in Beaver County.
Eloise A. O'Leary, a talented cook, crafter and home decorator, died Friday, Dec. 18, 2009, at St. John's Specialty Care Center in Mars. She was 93.
Miss O'Leary was born in Clarendon in Warren County and graduated in 1934 from Sheffield High School. After studying for about a year at Hoff Business College in Warren, she went to work for the Pennsylvania Gas Co. in Roystone in Warren County.
Her father, Joseph, was superintendent of the Pennsylvania Gas pumping station in Roystone, where Miss O'Leary was payroll clerk. Many family members worked in the oil and gas industry in the region, Sally O'Leary said, adding that their father had been severely burned in a natural gas tank explosion in 1914.
He recovered and continued to work until 1948, she said, adding her sister cared for her father and her mother, Mae, until their deaths. She retired from the gas company in 1979 and moved to New Sewickley to live with her sister. Another sibling, Katie O'Leary, joined them later.
The sisters traveled to Ireland six times, and while they never came up with much information about their grandparents, who had emigrated from that country, they made many friends.
"Eloise liked the cooking, the entertainment and scenery, and the people," Sally O'Leary said.
At home, "Her favorite holiday was Christmas. She was an excellent cook, she loved to bake fruitcakes and cookies and candies -- she made the best fudge in the world," she said.
As to her cake-making skills, "It was a natural ability, and they were always three tiered with fancy frosting," Sally O'Leary said, adding her sister never charged for her cakes.
"She was an all-around good person," Sally O'Leary said of her sister, who also loved to knit and decorate for holidays. Miss O'Leary was a member of St. Ferdinand Catholic Church in Cranberry.
She was preceded in death by sisters Regis Crowley and Catherine Mary "Katie" O'Leary, and by brothers Russell, Joseph and Robert O'Leary.
Visitation will be from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today at Glenn-Kildoo Funeral Home of Cranberry, 130 Wisconsin Ave.
A Mass of Christian Burial is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Ferdinand Church, 2535 Rochester Road, Cranberry. The family asks that memorials be in the form of donations to the church building campaign or to St. John's Specialty Care Center, 500 Wittenberg Way, Mars, PA 16046.
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