Born in Chester, Pennsylvania, on March 10, 1912, to Charles and Mary Cullin Lawton, Mary Eleanor Lawton Sebeok was raised in Puerto Rico and educated there and at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. She earned her master's degree in linguistics at the University of Michigan in 1947. Also in 1947 she married Thomas A. Sebeok, who soon after became a professor at Indiana University; in 1950 her daughter, Veronica Christine, was born. Eleanor taught English as a Foreign Language and related subjects under various programs at IU from 1947 to 1973, and then continued to teach at the University of Puerto Rico until long after she retired in 1979. She was often honored by her students wherever she taught, and some became lifelong friends. She also consulted, edited, served on numerous committees, ran language labs, and directed special programs at IU and UPR. In 1963-1964 and again in 1971-1973, she taught English and Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) in Spain. In 1993, she moved from Puerto Rico to Florida, and was widely respected for voluntarily organizing the residents' library at The Landings at Sea Forest, the community where she last lived.
Eleanor was a great lover of animals, a staunch environmentalist, an energetic world traveler, a generous hostess, and an outstanding cook; politically she was a lifelong liberal and Democrat. She was also well known for her good taste in interior design and for being an elegant dresser.
She died just short of her 93rd birthday on January 24, 2005, in New Port Richey, Florida.
Her ashes were returned to the Atlantic Ocean off the shore of Puerto Rico, near the site of her favorite childhood home, on February 12, 2006.
Eleanor was a great lover of animals, a staunch environmentalist, an energetic world traveler, a generous hostess, and an outstanding cook; politically she was a lifelong liberal and Democrat. She was also well known for her good taste in interior design and for being an elegant dresser.
She died just short of her 93rd birthday on January 24, 2005, in New Port Richey, Florida.
Her ashes were returned to the Atlantic Ocean off the shore of Puerto Rico, near the site of her favorite childhood home, on February 12, 2006.
Born in Chester, Pennsylvania, on March 10, 1912, to Charles and Mary Cullin Lawton, Mary Eleanor Lawton Sebeok was raised in Puerto Rico and educated there and at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. She earned her master's degree in linguistics at the University of Michigan in 1947. Also in 1947 she married Thomas A. Sebeok, who soon after became a professor at Indiana University; in 1950 her daughter, Veronica Christine, was born. Eleanor taught English as a Foreign Language and related subjects under various programs at IU from 1947 to 1973, and then continued to teach at the University of Puerto Rico until long after she retired in 1979. She was often honored by her students wherever she taught, and some became lifelong friends. She also consulted, edited, served on numerous committees, ran language labs, and directed special programs at IU and UPR. In 1963-1964 and again in 1971-1973, she taught English and Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) in Spain. In 1993, she moved from Puerto Rico to Florida, and was widely respected for voluntarily organizing the residents' library at The Landings at Sea Forest, the community where she last lived.
Eleanor was a great lover of animals, a staunch environmentalist, an energetic world traveler, a generous hostess, and an outstanding cook; politically she was a lifelong liberal and Democrat. She was also well known for her good taste in interior design and for being an elegant dresser.
She died just short of her 93rd birthday on January 24, 2005, in New Port Richey, Florida.
Her ashes were returned to the Atlantic Ocean off the shore of Puerto Rico, near the site of her favorite childhood home, on February 12, 2006.
Eleanor was a great lover of animals, a staunch environmentalist, an energetic world traveler, a generous hostess, and an outstanding cook; politically she was a lifelong liberal and Democrat. She was also well known for her good taste in interior design and for being an elegant dresser.
She died just short of her 93rd birthday on January 24, 2005, in New Port Richey, Florida.
Her ashes were returned to the Atlantic Ocean off the shore of Puerto Rico, near the site of her favorite childhood home, on February 12, 2006.
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