Eleanor A. Tomsa

*Service Update*

For those who may not be able to attend mass, a brief visitation will take place from 1:00-3:00 PM on Sunday, May 5, 2024, at the Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main Street, Flemington, NJ. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, at 10:00 AM at Saint Magdalen Church, 105 Mine Street, Flemington, NJ. Graveside services and interment will immediately follow the mass in the family plot at St. Magdalen Cemetery, North Main Street, Flemington, NJ.

Those attending the services are encouraged to wear pink, Eleanor’s favorite color, in her honor.

Eleanor A. Tomsa, age 92 years, passed away on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Manchester Township, NJ.

Born in Bound Brook, NJ, February 20, 1932, the daughter of the late Edward and Mary (Haus) Borkowski. She grew up in Bound Brook, NJ. During her marital life, she and Joseph resided in Branchburg, Bound Brook, Bridgewater and moved to Hunterdon County, NJ in 1972. In 1991 she retired to Manchester Township, NJ and resided there for over 30 years.

While attending Bound Brook High School, she met Joseph Tomsa at a school dance. The two would become high school sweethearts and married in 1951 after graduating. She worked as a secretary to a chemist at American Cyanamid while Joseph served in the Army. As a secretary she learned to memorize the symbols of elements, as she regularly took dictation. When Joseph returned home, she left her career to become a homemaker and would become a stay-at-home mother to their son, Brian. In the 1980's after Joseph’s death, she returned to the workforce. She served as an overnight home health aide and worked for a florist part time before retiring to Ocean County.

She became a fantastic cook, baker and attended cooking classes that she thoroughly enjoyed. She prepared countless recipes, even leaving handwritten notes on how she could improve them the next time. Some recipe selections of those she gathered were saved specifically for her stays in Florida. She perfected a recipe for biscotti, which she and her long-time companion George enjoyed with tea. She watched the Food Network religiously, even in her later years at the nursing home. Eleanor loved gardening; a passion fostered by her father. As a child her father had countless flowers around their yard in Bound Brook. She had lush gardens at her homes in Hunterdon County. At her home in Manchester, she grew herbs to use in her recipes.

Additionally, Eleanor was an avid reader, spending countless hours in the library. She would follow the stock market and meticulously researched and tracked stocks she was interested in. Eleanor also enjoyed sewing and even made her own clothing in the 1970’s. She loved learning new crafts, needle point, creating ornaments including decorative hollow Easter eggs with scenes. Moreover, she and her late husband, Joseph, enjoyed traveling in their younger years. Their travels took them all over, to places like Hawaii, Florida, Texas, Bermuda and even Houston and Cape Canaveral during the early years of the space race. Later in life, she and companion George would also travel to Portugal, Italy and Switzerland and snow birded in Florida for several years.

She was predeceased by her husband of 28 years, Joseph Tomsa, who died in 1980. She was also predeceased by her son, Brian Tomsa, who died in 2003, and finally her long-time companion of 25 ½ years, George Vacca, who died in 2019.

Surviving are her three granddaughters, Stephanie Rinker and her husband Kevin, of Palmerton, PA, Janine Connor and her husband Mark, of Offutt, NE, and Melody Tomsa of Flemington, NJ; three great-grandsons, Wyatt, Quentin, and Eliot Rinker; her daughter-in-law, Lisa Tomsa also of Flemington, NJ; as well as several nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to the VNA Health Group Foundation, 23 Main Street, Suite D1, Holmdel, NJ 07733 or by clicking here: www.vnahg.org/honor-a-care-giver-hero .

Arrangements are under the direction of the Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main Street, Flemington, NJ 08822. For further information or to send an online condolence, please visit her Tribute Wall at www.holcombefisher.com.