Eleanor Ann (Paradysz) Niedbala

HADLEY – Eleanor Niedbala, 89, passed away peacefully on Friday, April 4, 2025. Ellie was born in Holyoke and was a daughter of Louis F. and Sophie (Twarog) Paradysz. She grew up in Westfield and received her Masters from Westfield State University. She had a rewarding career in education, mostly as the beloved kindergarten teacher at Hooker School in Hadley. For years, she taught two sessions of kindergarten daily, retiring after she had her first third generation student.
Ellie had an idyllic childhood. Her passion for gardening was inherited from her parents. She worked with her father in his rose and gladiola gardens and helped her mother with citrus trees and orchids. Her own garden was lovely and she encouraged friends to “pick flowers because more would grow in their place.” As the youngest of four, Ellie adored her brothers and sister and shared stories of their daredevil adventures. Their mother often called them her “untamable brood.” Ellie grew up riding horses, skiing, swimming, and skating – this last, which she did in her late seventies. From childhood, she had a lifelong love of travel which she shared with her own family. In later years, when she and her sister were widowed, they continued to travel the world. Ellie’s children cherish the photos of her on a camel in the Sahara Desert and standing on the Great Wall of China.
Ellie met her husband, Joseph, when he gave her brother a ride home. Joe pulled up in a 1952 MG which they continued to drive in their forty-two years of marriage. Together, they made a home that was warm and welcoming as well as an imaginative and thrilling place for their children. Ellie loved to host parties and had wonderful Saturday nights always with a stack of records on the stereo. Christmas Eve celebrations and summer family reunions are fondly remembered. Ellie was always known as the one who would keep her extended family and friends connected.
Ellie was an all-embracing joy to her children, their spouses, and her granddaughter. She loved nature and inspired an interest in astronomy in her son and the tradition of gardening in her daughter. Ellie and her granddaughter shared a passion for painting and loved visiting museums and taking art classes together. She was always up for any scheme or adventure that her children presented. Her spirit and enthusiasm were unequalled and she was so much fun.
Ellie was predeceased by her husband, Joseph, and her siblings; Louis Paradysz, Jr., Phyllis Oleksak, and Paul Paradysz. She leaves her loving daughter, Sarah Chadwick, and her husband, Harry, her son, Joel Niedbala, and his wife, Patricia, their daughter, Melissa, and her husband, Casey Biggs. She also leaves her grand pets, which she loved to spoil, Abigail, Cecily, Sybil, and Yodel. Ellie was the definitive light of her immediate family and will forever be deeply loved.
Ellie’s family is grateful to Mimi, Gina, Kaitlyn, Nancy, and the team at NovaLeap Healthcare Solutions and to Cooley Dickinson VNA & Hospice for the kind and excellent care they provided.
The family will hold a Celebration of Life at Ahearn Funeral Home in Northampton on Saturday, May 3 from 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. Charitable donations may be made to the Dakin Humane Society or to Cooley Dickinson VNA & Hospice.