Sara M. Eickhoff, 87, a retired elementary school teacher who was a resident of West Dundee for 61 years and served as the first president of the Women’s Society of Christian Service at First United Methodist Church there, died at home Tuesday.
Mrs. Eickhoff, who was born in Huntley, attended Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. In June 1933 she married George Eickhoff at the farm owned by her parents, Richard and Ida Hadley. She and her late husband moved to West Dundee in 1936, where Mr. Eickhoff opened a pharmacy.
She taught for 10 years at the old Dundee Elementary School, and after raising her son, taught for another 10 years at the Parkview School in Carpentersville. Mrs. Eickhoff and her husband both retired in 1973.
Mrs. Eickhoff was the first president of the Women’s Society of Christian Service from 1942 to 1945. Her friend, Martha Sutphin, said, “She was a faithful and wonderful member who contributed everything for the church. She was always optimistic. She looked on the bright side of things.”
Sutphin, whose late husband attended NIU with Mrs. Eickhoff, and whose son was in her 2nd-grade class, said, “Lots of her students remember her. She was a wonderful teacher. She and her husband were well-known and loved by everyone in Dundee.”
Mrs. Eickhoff helped organize the Dundee Township Historical Society in the 1960s. She regularly served as a tour guide with the society, according to Margaret Sutphin, “because she knew so much about the area.”
She is survived by her son, James; five grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be at 9:30 a.m. Friday, until the time of services at 10:30 a.m., in First United Methodist Church, 318 W. Main St., West Dundee.
