Eleanor Annie May was born on Tuesday, January 12, 1943, in Fergus to parents John and Evelyn (Taylor) Henderson. She was the fifth of ten children: Doreen, Roy, Ray, Bill, Eleanor, Bruce, Reg, Lloyd, Bev and Brenda. Given the large family, there was always lots to do during Eleanor’s childhood. Throughout her youth, there were several family moves whereby the Hendersons spent time in the Belwood, Fergus, and Guelph area. While living in Fergus and at the age of 10, Eleanor met a neighbour boy, by the name of Kenneth Earl Yule, who was one year her senior. Apparently, Ken’s pursuit of Eleanor in the coming years was relentless, as he often hung out with her brothers and offered her rides home from swimming on several occasions. Eleanor decided to forgo further education at the age of sixteen, while living in Brantford, and began working at a local window business, Storm Steel. She remained there until her marriage to Ken on a cold and stormy day, Saturday, November 26, 1960. They were married at St. James Lutheran Church, in Elmira by Rev. Harry Baetz.

The newlyweds settled in Fergus were together they welcomed their three children: Jamie (1961), Jeffery (1964) and Lisa May (1969). Eleanor kept extremely busy with her young family as Ken put in long hours and was away a lot. Therefore, she took it upon herself to care for their every need and often filled the roles of both parents. In the summer months, the Yule family often spent some quality time camping as a family. They first enjoyed the comforts of a tent trailer, before Ken converted a bus into a camper. In later years, they graduated to a few more comforts and purchased a motorhome. They tended to keep their outings local, but always enjoyed spending extra time together as a family.

In early 1979, an opportunity arose for the Yule family to purchase their own business, so they made the difficult decision to move away from family and friends and called Dobbinton home. They purchased the Dobbinton Gas Station, Body Shop and Convenient Store were Eleanor worked side-by-side with Ken running the family business. Life was busy, as they were open seven days a week all the while keeping her eye on the three kids. Given the pace, the family decided to sell the business in 1982, settling a mile east on Bruce County Rd. 40.

Sadly, tragedy struck the Yule family in 1986, when Lisa died in a car accident on July 12. She was only 16. The following year the Yules moving to Scone and Eleanor took a job at a Fabric Store in Owen Sound. This allowed Eleanor to keep busy during a difficult part of her life, as she enjoyed helping and interacting with customers. After a couple of years she returned to babysitting, which she did a lot of over the years.

In her spare time – not that she had much! Eleanor enjoyed sewing, crafts, particularly scrapbooking and collecting. What did she collect you might ask? Well, everything you might say, and garage sales were her favourite. If she saw something she could envision doing something with, she bought it! She was creative, and always looked at the potential in something old or used. It was this type of approach that she took when renovating and redecorating any house they called their home.

Eleanor loved the colour blue, springtime, and food in general… but I am told she had a particular fondness for orange pop. Watching game shows on TV like Wheel of Fortune and reading Women’s World and short stories were all enjoyable pastimes for Eleanor. Similar to Ken, she enjoyed Country Western music with the likes of Ricky Skaggs, Conway Twitty, Charley Pride, and Wilf Carter being favourites. She also had a particular fondness for their miniature four-legged friend, Mia who was a favourite of Eleanor’s.

Eleanor and Ken moved to Mount Forest in 1988 so that Ken could be closer to work. Here the couple enjoyed seeing their family expand with the addition of six grandchildren. Eleanor loved spending time with her grandchildren, and often volunteered herself to babysit when the boys, and their wives, were in a pinch. The couple soon settled into the community, remaining there until 2016 whereby they moved to Hanover to be closer to family.

In 2010, on their 50^th wedding anniversary, Eleanor and Ken renewed their vows. The celebration was held at the Klages Mill and her grandchildren gave her away! Family gatherings, and celebrations were always a highlight for Eleanor as she loved catching up with the different generations, on all the happenings in their lives. Retirement also afforded her the time to sew stuffed animals, and clothes for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She also loved playing games with the kids, baking, and celebrating a lot of birthdays!

In more recent years, she became a caregiver of Ken, as his health slowly declined. She took great pride in caring for him, and thankfully allowed him to remain at home with her, until days before his passing last April. With the support of family and friends, Eleanor slowly transitioned to life on her own, but sadly received her own devastating health news earlier this year, when she was diagnosed with cancer. In true Eleanor fashion she was determined to put up a fight, and that she did! Although there were many difficult days, Eleanor always tried to remain positive. She continued to enjoy the phone calls and socializing with family and friends, when her treatments and physical condition did not allow for visits. Sadly though, her fight and determination was not enough as she passed away at Hanover & District Hospital, with her loving family by her side, on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, in her 82^nd year.

Loving mother of Jamie Yule (Elizabeth Bandrychuk) of Hanover and Jeff (Brenda) Yule of Chesley. Cherished grandmother of Rob (Trish), John (Sarah), Lloyd (Amanda), Alissa (Allan), Andrew (Amy), Amy (Josh) and great-grandmother of Shyla, Arianna, Annabelle, Layla, Ava, Lilly, Jack, Isaiah, Abigail, Oliver, and Louis. She will be dearly missed by her siblings, Ray Henderson of Fergus, Reg Henderson of Bloomingdale, Lloyd (Terry) Henderson of Rossland, B.C., and Brenda (Monty) Fritsch of Port Elgin. Eleanor was predeceased by her husband Ken, daughter Lisa Yule, daughter-in-law Janet Yule, grandson Cory Yule, brothers Roy (Jean) Henderson, Bill Henderson, Bruce (Linda) Henderson, sisters Doreen (Neil) Shantz, Bev Webster, and her parents John and Evelyn (Taylor) Henderson.

Visitation will be held at Rhody Family Funeral Home, Chesley on Monday from 6 – 8 p.m. where a funeral service celebrating Eleanor’s life will be held on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, at 11 a.m. Private family interment in Belsyde Cemetery, Fergus.

Much gratitude and thanks to Dr. Marc Labelle, Dr. H. Dhanhli, Diane and the staff at the Hanover & District Hospital for their care of Eleanor and our family in recent months. Your kindness will never be forgotten.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated as expressions of sympathy.