Eileen Horvitz Dunnell passed away on Aug. 20, 2022 in Overland Park, Kansas.
She was born on June 1, 1928, in Kansas City, Missouri, the only child of Joseph and Mina Glazer Horvitz. She attended Central High School and the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
She was employed in various administrative office capacities while raising her two sons in Prairie Village, Kansas.
Her marriages to Victor D. Goldman and David Jacobson ended in divorce.
In 1976, she married Lt. Col. Charles A. Dunnell, Jr., U.S. Army, retired. They moved to Frederick, Maryland, where they retrofitted their Victorian-era home by adding solar panels and a solar greenhouse. The house was part of a Solar Homes Tour in 1980 and was featured in articles in the Washington Post and a solar magazine.
Charles’ organic garden and Eileen’s gourmet cooking of its produce delighted family and friends. Their interest in natural food led to their active participation in a food co-op which started in a member’s living room and grew to become an 18,000-square-foot full-service grocery store, The Common Market.
They enjoyed travel through the United States, Canada, and Europe, often attending Elderhostels and visiting family.
Eileen was an active member of the Baltimore Symphony in Frederick Committee. She was a board member of the Women’s Center Council, the Woman’s Civic Club, and the National Council of Jewish Women, which presented her with its Hannah Solomon award. She was a past president of the Beth Sholom Social Club, and a member of Congregation Kol Ami where she became a bat mitzvah in 2007.
Charles died on June 7, 2006. Eileen returned to Overland Park, Kansas, in 2008 to live at Tallgrass Creek, an active retirement community, where she enjoyed playing bridge and coordinating the book club. She said that her greatest accomplishment was creating a blended family.
Eileen is survived by sons Jeffery Goldman (and wife Sandra) and Paul Goldman (and wife Dawn); and stepdaughters Jill Sellers (and husband William), Ruth Dunnell, and Deirdre Noone. Her stepsons, David Dunnell and Charles A. Dunnell III, preceded her in passing away. She is also survived by fourteen grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.
A memorial service and interment at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, will be held at a date to be decided by the family.
Memorial contribution suggested to the Tallgrass Creek Benevolent Care Fund.
