Eileen M. Wojcik

Born in Brooklyn on Oct. 5, 1930, she was the daughter of Stephen and Catherine (McLaughlin) Hand. Eileen married John J. Wojcik on Saturday, June 17, 1950 in Brooklyn. John predeceased her on April 19, 1992.

Eileen was brought up by the Sisters of Charity at Nanuet. At 17 years old, she was signed in at St. Vincent’s School of Nursing in New York City. Eileen contracted T.B. and was sent to Ray Brook Sanitarium to cure. This was the beginning of her life in the beautiful Adirondacks and the creation of her family and many friendships. She started her nursing career here as a nurse’s aid at the Old Saranac Lake General Hospital on Winona Avenue. She then went to the Malone School of Practical Nursing in 1964. After her schooling was completed, she returned to Saranac Lake General Hospital, where she started in the operating room. She continued on with the hospital when it moved to the new Saranac Lake General Hospital on Lake Colby. She continued her education at CVPH in Plattsburgh in their three-year nursing program. She was there for one-and-a-half years and had to leave for home circumstances. She then continued her nursing education through New York University’s Extension Degree Program. She graduated in 1974 as a registered nurse and worked a total of 36 years at the Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake, as well as per diem at the Adirondack Internal Medicine and High Peaks Hospice. Eileen loved every minute of nursing and her many accomplishments, including the development of outpatient endoscopy, ASU and oncology.

She is survived by two daughters, Joanne Medwick of Rio Rancho, New Mexico and Deborah Harrison and husband Richard of Rainbow Lake; one son, Stephen Thomas Wojcik and wife June of Tewksbury, Massachusetts; five grandchildren, Joseph Medwick, Morgan Harrison and his wife Sabrina, Stephen Wojcik, Jessie Wojcik and Dylan Harrison; and four great-grandchildren, Gunner Harrison, Ryder Harrison, Oden Wojcik and Isabel Scerra. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews, including Peter Kramer, Bart Patnode, Danny Patnode, Kitty Patnode, David Patnode, Michael O’Neill, Christine O’Neill, Margie O’Neill, Patty Karpinski Bell, Michael Wojcik and Mick Nassauer.

She was predeceased by two brothers, Stephen and Richard Hand; two sisters, Katie Hand Patnode and Anita Hand O’Neill; one son-in-law, Joe Medwick; one granddaughter, Carrie Wojcik; and two sisters-in-laws, Eileen Hand and Regina Karpinski.

Funeral arrangements are in care of the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home in Saranac Lake. A Mass of Christian burial will take place at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 27 at St. Bernard’s Church in Saranac Lake with Rev. Martin Cline officiating. Burial will follow at St. Agnes Cemetery in Lake Placid.

Friends wishing to remember Eileen M. Wojcik may make memorial contributions to High Peaks Hospice and Palliative Care or St. Bernard’s School in care of the funeral home. Family and friends can also share their condolences and memories online at fortunekeoughfuneralhome.com.