A very happy 100th birthday to Sister Henrice Eckert, who was born on June 23, 1923, and has been a School Sister of Notre Dame for nearly 80 years.
S. Henrice celebrated her big day at the Church of the Presentation in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. The festivities, decorations, and tributes were organized by her best friend, Sister Carole Tabano, with the help of many others.
Colleagues, neighbors, and friends from many parts of S. Henrice's life paid tribute to this long-time school administrator, guidance counselor, and teacher of biology and religious studies.
Before lunch, she received special blessings from other School Sisters of Notre Dame and multiple priests, including Church of the Presentation Pastor Bob Stagg.
The outpouring of love included the observation that S. Henrice has a special gift for truly seeing other people. A neighbor shared that she loves living near S. Henrice and S. Carole in Saddle River, because she knows they both have her best interests in mind.
S. Henrice is a 1941 graduate of the Academy of the Holy Angels, which was located in Fort Lee, New Jersey, from 1879 through 1965. She taught and served as a guidance counselor at AHA for many years, and helped move the school to the new campus in Demarest in 1965. (The move was necessitated by the expansion of the George Washington Bridge, which was very close to the original campus.)
In 1988, S. Henrice accepted a new post at Holy Family School in Norwood, where she served as a teacher, guidance counselor, and vice principal.
During her long career, she was named the Archdiocese of Newark's Teacher of the Year. She also received Holy Family School's Legacy Award.
