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Eleanor (Wolfhope) Wrye, 99, died Thursday at UPMC Altoona, surrounded by her family. For the past two years, she resided at Colonial Courtyard of Tyrone.
Eleanor was born in Frankstown Township, Hollidaysburg, daughter of the late Stephen L. and Martha E. (Fisher) Wolfhope.
Eleanor grew up in Alexandria and moved to Tyrone after her marriage to D. Wendell Wrye on May 22, 1949.
She is survived by her two sons, Alan Wrye (Suzanne) of State College and Stephen Wrye (Debbie) of Flintstone, Md.; grandsons, Nathan Wrye (Tori) of Media, Pa., and Luke Wrye of Tyrone; stepgrandchildren, Marshall Wright (Shennen) and Jennifer Paul (Ian); a number of nieces and nephews; and her beloved cat, Snuggles.
Eleanor was the last surviving member of her immediate family. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Wendell Wrye, of Tyrone on Oct. 7, 1986; four brothers: Eugene, Paul, Roy and Phillip Wolfhope; and four sisters: Florence Abrams, Irene Andes, Mary Jane Parker Hoffman and Georgia Conrad.
A graduate of Alexandria High School, she was a member of the Class of 1946. Before the family moved from the Mt. Etna Furnace farm in 1936, she attended a one-room schoolhouse near the farm.
After high school, she worked in Alexandria, tying fly fishing flies. After she married, Eleanor was kept busy being a housewife while raising her two sons. In 1966, she began working as a salesclerk at TyPenn Department Store in the Tyrone Shopping Center. She continued with Ziffs Department Store when they took over the same space. She worked for Ziff's through the move to the Altoona Store, until its closing in the late 1990s. Eleanor always bragged that she was the last one out of the store and locked the door after more than 30 years.
Eleanor was a member of Columbia Avenue Methodist Church, which later became the Church of the Good Shepherd. She was a longtime member of VFW and American Legion Auxiliary, both in Tyrone.
Eleanor was a strong and caring woman. She was devoted to her family and was a loving daughter, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend to anyone that she met. She had an uncanny ability to remember names and dates of events (family birthdays were her specialty). She was the Wolfhope family historian for a very long time.
Eleanor's most cherished memories were the many vacations at the beach in Ocean City, Md., with Wendell, her boys, and her sisters and their families. She was always quite the talker and loved the family get-togethers at the Alexandria Homestead. Eleanor was a very good card player and belonged to a number of card clubs. She played double pinochle up into her early nineties and loved playing Rummikub with her grandsons. After retirement she and her Birthday Club friends played cards and attended many dances, costume parties, dinners and senior proms throughout Blair and Clearfield Counties.
Friends will be received from noon until the 2 p.m. funeral service on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, at Richard H. Searer Funeral Home Inc., Tyrone, with the Rev. Mark Woomer officiating.
Interment will be in Presbyterian Cemetery, Alexandria, at the convenience of the family.
searerfuneralhomeinc.com