Eileen Ruth Albert

Eileen Ruth (Tarsi) Albert of Moseley, VA, and formerly of Auburn, ME, born May 23, 1959, passed away peacefully at her home on Wednesday, January 14 surrounded by her family after a long battle with ALS. She was 66.

Eileen was preceded in death by her parents Carol and Richard Tarsi, father-in-law, Raymond Albert, and dear aunt, Jeannine Albert. She is survived by her husband and love of her life Reggie, and their three children and their families who together made up her greatest joy. She was a loving mother, mother-in-law and nana to son Jonathan and wife Amy and their sons Samuel and Augustine, son Zachary and wife Emily and their daughter Sophia, and daughter Emily and Tucker.

Eileen was born and raised in Easton, PA as the eldest of three daughters. After graduating high school, she moved to Maine at age 18 upon hearing the vocation to seek religious life. After a period of discernment, she responded to the call to join the laity. She graduated from nursing school at The University of Southern Maine in 1984 and began a lifelong career as a nurse, nearly all of which was spent in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Maine Medical Center in Portland, ME. She retired from the NICU in 2020 after 35 years, making lifelong friends who remained a key support for her even after leaving the NICU, and the state.

It was after she moved to Maine that she also met the love of her life, Reggie. Set up on a blind date by their close friends Deana and Ken Albert (no relation), both Eileen and Reggie shared with their friends that night that they had met their soulmate. Engaged six weeks later and married in 1989, Eileen and Reggie shared more than 36 wonderful years of marriage together.

In addition to her Catholic identity, being a mother and nana was Eileen’s greatest calling. Eileen and Reggie raised three children together in Maine, Jonathan, Zachary and Emily, who were among her greatest sources of pride. As the ‘OG Five’ grew with dogs, wives and grandchildren, Eileen’s joy grew as well, always sharing with friends and family (and strangers!) the successes and accomplishments of her family. Vacationing at the lake in Maine was an annual tradition, even after moving out of state. The Albert family spent the last 29 years summering in the Sebago Lakes Region.

After Reggie’s work took him to Virginia in 2016, he and Eileen navigated a challenging but ultimately temporary period of long-distance, during which Eileen assisted in caring for both of her parents as they passed in 2017. In 2020, they sold their first home together in Auburn, and Eileen moved full-time to Virginia where she would spend her last 5 years, developing friendships at church, her chemotherapy from her 2022 breast cancer treatments, and her community.

A lover of God, food, travel, reading, laughter, the lake, babies, Oprah, Diet Pepsi and most importantly, her family, Eileen was one of one. She is also survived by her sisters Janice (John) Mikitsh and Karen (Greg) Morris, mother-in-law Lisette Albert, brother-in-law Ron (Nancy) Albert, brother-in-law Rick (Linda) Albert and sister-in-law Gisele (Ron) Beaudoin, Deana and Ken Albert and their two children Kathryn and Nathan, her niece Danika (James) McCann, niece Veronica Morris, and numerous other nieces and nephews, family, friends and loved ones from her time in Pennsylvania, Maine and Virginia.

A funeral mass will be held Friday, January 23 at 11am at Saint Gabriel’s Church in Chesterfield, VA, with a reception to follow. There will also be a Celebration of Life held in Maine this July.

In lieu of flowers and in accordance with her wishes, donations can be made to https://teamgleason.org/, an ALS support organization that provided Eileen’s family great comfort during her fight against ALS.

The family also wishes to thank the ALS Clinic at VCU and VCU Hospice, specifically her nurse Tiara, who cared for her weekly since September.