Olive Rae Enfiejian

(Nee Duckworth) Olive Rae Enfiejian, on October 7, 2016, age 93 of Mt. Laurel, NJ. Beloved wife of the late Edward A. Enfiejian. Dear mother of Terry (Theresa) Enfiejian, Howard Enfiejian and Valerie Enfiejian. Loving grandmother of Michelle, Christy, Rebecca, Bret, Morgaine, Corby, Garrick, and Bonnie; Great-grandmother of 8. Olive retired from Bancroft School Haddonfield as a reading disability specialist.

Olive Rae (Duckworth) Enfiejian was a woman of beauty, intelligence, wit, integrity, tolerance and kindness.  She was born on a farm in Illinois and following the onset of the Great Depression, moved with her parents and two older sisters to the small town of Herscher, Illinois to live in the home owned by the Duckworth family.  She lived the entirety of her childhood in this close-knit community, among family and friends braving and overcoming the challenges of the time.  Under the guidance of her parents, Olive learned the importance of an education, a love for literature, art and music, the value of a dollar, the importance of living beneath one’s means and to see the beauty inside all of us.  Following graduation from Herscher High School, Olive attended college at Illinois State University.  Working summers in Chicago, Wisconsin and South Dakota, she put herself through school and graduated with a degree in English. It was while working in Sioux Falls that she met her husband of 66 years, Edward Arakel Enfiejian, who was in the army and stationed in the area.  They eloped in 1943 and soon after, he was deployed to Europe, while she stayed in Illinois to complete her degree. 

Upon his return, Olive and her husband began their life together, living in Philadelphia, Long Island, Cherry Hill and finally in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey.  They reared their children to honor education, hard work and service to others.  In 1968, Olive earned a Master’s Degree in Education from Glassboro State College and later completed her licensure in learning disabilities.  She worked at Bancroft School in Haddonfield, New Jersey for 30 years, where she was a specialist in reading disabilities and imparted the love of the printed word to children and adolescents who were struggling to read.  As an adjunct professor at Glassboro, she shared her progressive teaching techniques with other educators.  Following her retirement, Olive continued her private work and later spent her remaining years caring for family members and sharing cherished time with her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.  She was a woman of grace, ahead of her time, respected by family, friends and colleagues, and loved by all.  She left the world a better place than when she came into it.      

Relatives and friends of the family will meet for the visitation and funeral on Wednesday morning from 10:15am to 10:45am in the First Presbyterian Church of Haddonfield, 20 E. Kings Hwy.,  Haddonfield, NJ. Funeral Services will be conducted at 11:00am Wednesday. Interment Colestown Cemetery, Cherry Hill, NJ. Donations in memory of Olive can be sent to the American Stroke Foundation, Sylvester Powell Community Center, 6200 Martway, Mission, KS  66202 (americanstroke.org). Arr. by the Bocco Funeral Home, Cherry Hill, NJ.