Eleanor Anne Dowling, 94, Lake Bluff

Lake Forest and Lake Bluff lost one of its most ardent community supporters when Eleanor Dowling passed away at age 94 on December 3, 2022.

An involved community member, a resident of Lake Bluff and a realtor here since 1967, Eleanor (El) was always in her “Happy Place” when she was involved in real estate – being with clients and other realtors, listing and showing homes, helping families find the perfect home, helping others downsize when that was the goal, and helping their adult children find their new homes. She also enjoyed teaching and coaching new and established realtors and sharing her enthusiasm for and expertise in the profession that gave her such joy.

Generations of local families were guided through important transitions under her caring watch and many local realtors called her mentor and friend. In fact, she so loved real estate that she only retired at the end of 2018, at the age of 90, from Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago’s Lake Forest Office. Through the years, she also was a Managing Broker with Gibert Rayner Real Estate, Rayner First United, and Baird and Warner – all in Lake Forest – where her management career spanned decades.

Eleanor Anne Dowling (nee Hornick) was born in 1928 in Boonton, NJ, to parents Joseph and Anna (nee Kozemchak) Hornick. From starring roles in her high school plays, to The Katharine Gibbs School in NYC, to a position as the secretary to the editor of the Saturday Evening Post, she thrived in the spotlight. After three broken engagements (to him -- ahhh, drama!), she married the love of her life, Walter L. Dowling, in New York City on New Year’s Eve, 1949. His early career took their young family to New Jersey, Pennsylvania and, ultimately, Lake Bluff, Illinois, where they settled; those moves triggered her passion for real estate. Walt passed away, far too soon, in 2002.

Eleanor is survived by her two daughters – Deborah (Aquiles) Fischer of Lake Bluff, Illinois, and Laurel (Michael) Geoffrey of Winter, Wisconsin; four grandchildren – Christopher Fischer; Megan (Matthew) Sifrer; Hannah (Andrew) Gouin; and Samuel Geoffrey; and five great-grandchildren.

Her New Jersey family members were also her special “Honey Bunches” – Linda (Philip) Mongiovi; Joanne (Anthony) Favale; and the late Joseph (Little Joe) Hornick. She was predeceased by her brother and sister-in-law, Joseph and Lois Hornick.

The family gives special thanks to Nnenna, her companion and caregiver over the past three years, and to Mimi and Elon, who also assisted her this past year.

Services will be private. A gathering to celebrate her will be held in 2023.