Member Profile

Meet Eleanore Titleman
By Jill Zayszly

WHYY member Eleanore Titleman defines the word "involved." Eleanore has been a member for 10 years and a volunteer at WHYY for nearly seven.

Ask anyone at the WHYY Technology Center in Philadelphia and they'll agree that Eleanore's enthusiasm is contagious. Every Thursday you can bet Eleanore will be helping with office work and brightening the office with her smile.

When she's not at WHYY, she is listening to 91FM. "I always learn something. It's nice to hear others points of view; I appreciate that." She is an avid listener of Radio Times and enjoys Fresh Air with Terry Gross. At night, she checks Applause to see what's on TV12 and always watches The News Hour with Jim Lehrer.

Recently, Eleanore submitted several letters written by her late husband Joseph to WHYY's War Letters Project. Joseph Titleman was in the Special Services Division of the United States Army during World War II. Before he was sent to Melbourne, Australia in 1937, the two were just acquaintances. Joseph was also stationed in New Guinea and Washington State before being discharged.

Eleanore received some letters from him and later got to read the letters he sent to his parents. The two were married a year after Joseph's return to Philadelphia. They were married for 52 years and had two daughters.

Joseph's letters focus on the fun he was having, the movies that were being shown and the celebrities he met. "Basically, I think he didn't want to worry his parents with the real details of war. He only told them about the positive things. It was his nature to pick out the best of a situation," Eleanore says.

You can read letters from various wars at www.whyy.org.