Eleanor J. (Atherton) Tacke

Eleanor “Ellie” Jane Tacke, 84, was called to rest with Christ and died peacefully on October 13, 2023 surrounded by family. 

Born on February 13, 1939 in Detroit, Michigan, Eleanor was the daughter of Harold and Margaret (Gillett) Atherton.  She was a graduate of Lincoln High School (Ferndale, MI).  She started her university studies at Miami University of Ohio and later graduated from Wayne State University with a BA in General Studies as well as a Masters in Library Information Sciences.  She was employed for many years as an executive secretary for General Motors and in later life worked as an archivist at the Walter Reuther Library. Eleanor was active in the League of Women Voters (from 1960s to 2010s); serving as Metro Detroit chapter president during the mid-70s and vice president of the Grosse Pointe chapter in the late-90s.  From 2000 to 2022, she and her husband retired to the Traverse City area, where she volunteered at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Friends of the Interlochen Public Library (serving as a Trustee) and also served as a Director of the Women’s History Project in Northwest Michigan.  In addition, she volunteered for the American Association of University Women (chapter president in the Traverse City area (2004-2008)) and was a member of the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.  She was a passionate supporter of the arts as well as public libraries.  Eleanor enjoyed swimming, reading, and researching genealogy.  She loved to travel throughout the US, plus notable trips to Russia, Poland, Georgia, and Azerbaijan in the late 1980s, Italy and Western Europe in the 1990s and in 2007 she went to Egypt through the United States-Egypt Education Forum in Cairo (People to People). 

She is survived by her loving husband of 61 years, Carl Tacke; daughter Lisa (Mark) Tacke-Pucylowski; son Paul (Susan) Tacke; and grandchildren, Olivia Pucylowski and Trent Tacke. She was preceded in death by her sister, Susan (Mike) Montgomery, and brother, Douglas Atherton.  

Memorial Visitation Saturday, November 11, from 10:00 a.m. until the 11:00 a.m. Memorial Service at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, 375 Lothrop, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan.

Memorial contributions can be made in her name to: the Alzheimer's Association, the Nature Conversancy, Holy Cross Lutheran Church (Warren, MI) or St Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church (Grosse Pointe Farms, MI).

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