Eleanor Creegan

Eleanor “Ellie” Creegan, 93, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away peacefully on March 3rd, 2025, surrounded by her loving family.

Ellie was raised on Long Island, NY by her parents Rocco and Ginevra (Gina) Cocchiola who had immigrated from Italy in 1905. Ellie, along with her parents and brother Frankie, lived above a bakery. She often said she had the best apartment on Long Island since she woke up every morning to the smell of fresh baked bread and cinnamon rolls. She also said that is where her love of baking began.

In 1948, her best friend’s fiancé, who was in the Marines, brought home his platoon buddy, Jim, while they both were on leave. They decided Jim and Ellie would be a good match and set up a blind date. It was love at first sight and they married one year later and were married for 74 years.  They had five daughters, Cristyne, Kim, Mary Frances, Regina (Gina) and Jackie.  Ellie knew sorrow and grief that no mother should ever experience. When she was just 30, she lost her beloved mother Gina. Ellie did not have her mother to help her during her biggest tragedies in life to come; her daughter Regina (Gina) passed away at age nine from cancer and her daughter Cristyne (Crissy) passed away at 33 of complications from MS. But her faith sustained her through those dark times, and she became the strong resilient woman that defined her throughout her 93 years.

Ellie and Jim decided they needed a fresh start and moved their girls to Florida. That is when Ellie decided she wanted to go to work. With no college degree, secretarial skills or travel experience, she answered an ad for a receptionist for a Travel Agency. Even though she did not possess any of the job requirements, the owner hired her due to her “enthusiasm, personality and charisma”. When Ellie entered the room, everyone noticed. Within a month she trained and became a travel agent and within six months she was the office manager.

Ellie and her family relocated to Hilton Head Island in 1978 and remained on Hilton Head Island and then Bluffton for the next 47 years. The family often teased them that they lived in almost every Gated Community while building and selling their homes every few years to all the people moving here. Ellie went to work at Travel Ventures on Hilton Head. She became the manager and then part owner within a few short years. Over the years she and her business partner acquired over 20 travel agencies in the Southeast and Ellie became co-owner and managing partner of Travel Ventures Inc. Not bad for someone who started answering phones only 10 years before. Ellie traveled the world by plane and on luxurious cruise ships. During this time, one of her daughters saw a contest that was mentioned in a few magazines that Clairol was looking for a woman who changed her life after the  age 40, and thought her mother was a perfect choice. Her daughter’s essay explained how her mother Ellie channeled the grief of losing her mother and two daughters into a life of faith, joy and an extraordinary successful career all after the age of 40. She was chosen out of 1500 entries by Linda Evans who was the judge (of Dynasty fame!) and was named Clairol’s Women of the year. Besides the title, she also won a cash prize, a trip to LA, dinner with Carol O’Conner (Archie from All in the Family), an appearance on the talk show Hour Magazine hosted by Gary Collins with Linda Evans and an article in the Island Packet. While on Hour Magazine, she showed off her excellent cooking skills and made Lasagna with Linda Evans and Gary Collins as her sous chefs.

Besides her fabulous career, Ellie was an outstanding cook, an excellent baker (her Christmas cookies were in high demand) and dinner party hostess extraordinaire! Her Sunday dinners and holiday family gatherings were second to none. Ellie often said she was happiest when her entire family was around the table eating a meal that she prepared. She truly lived for her family.

Ellie was preceded in death by her husband James, her parents Rocco and Gina Cocchiola, and her two daughters, Cristyne Creegan Corby and Regina “Gina” Creegan. She leaves behind her loving family, daughters Kim Decost (Jim) Mary Frances Chaney (Bill) and Jackie Thompson, grandchildren Jon Corby, Adam Gilmore, Hannah Downey, Alexander Betka, Zachary Betka, Jake Thompson and Emily Starling, and great grandchildren Dylan, Lani, Callie and Hailey Gilmore and Zeke and Zac Corby.

Although we will miss our mother, grandmother and great grandmother every day for the rest of our lives, we know she is with Jesus and was greeted in Heaven by her two beautiful daughters and our dad along with all her relatives and friends that preceded her. May Ellie rest in the peace that she truly deserves.

A funeral Mass will be held at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church in Bluffton, SC on March 28th at 10:30am. A private burial will be held at Beaufort National Veteran’s Cemetery in Beaufort, SC where she will be put to rest with her husband, James.