Obituary of Diana Eigen

Diana Mackay Eigen, 87, passed away on November 2, 2010. Born in Edinburgh Scotland on April 21, 1923, the daughter of William John Mackay and Robina McIntosh Mackenzie, she was the eldest of seven children. A graduate of the Leith Academy, she served as a radio operator in the Royal Air Force Bomber Command for the duration of World War II. She met an American airman from Passaic, NJ, David Eigen and they were married in 1945. She joined him in America in 1947. While raising her children, Diana was active in a host of civic organizations including serving on the board of the Passaic-Clifton YWCA, president of the Cosmopolitan Club, and several school PTA's. She was an accomplished gardener and painter and taught private oil painting classes at the YWCA, the Passaic Adult School, and to many private students. For 15 years she was a partner in Whigmaleerie Yarns in Clifton. Widowed in 1977, she moved to Upper Montclair in 1986, where she was known throughout the community for her eye-catching gardens and her hand-knit sweaters that she sold under the Bonny Bairns label. She is the mother of two married daughters, Sheila (John Viemeister), and Heather (Douglas Stivison), and four grandchildren: Ian and Dolina Viemeister, and Megan and Elizabeth Stivison. She is survived by four overseas brothers: Hugh (Scotland), Bill (New Zealand), and Alistair and Ken (England), and many nieces and nephews around the globe. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 6, at 11 am. at Union Congregational Church, 176 Cooper Avenue, Upper Montclair, NJ. Memorial donations may be made to the Montclair Volunteer Ambulance Unit, 95 Walnut Street, Montclair, NJ 07042 or the Presby Memorial Iris Garden, 474 Upper Mountain Avenue Upper Montclair, NJ 07043.