Obituary of Eric Andrew Tell
On October 26, 2024, Eric A. Tell passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. He leaves behind his wife, Joan G. Tell, and two children, Katharine Tell and Andrew Tell. Of course, he also leaves behind the many people whose lives were also touched by his presence, knowledge, and capabilities; too many people to name here, but they are undoubtedly grieving the loss of him.
Eric was born in Passaic, NJ, on New Years Day in 1966, a sign of his ever-recurring obsession with punctuality and patterns. A middle child and brother to Martin and Greg, son of Martin and Dorathea, Eric grew up in a world of athletics and action. Even as a child, he was an accomplished person, achieving records in hockey and track and field throughout his school years. At Rutgers University, he transferred those capabilities to academia, achieving a bachelor’s degree in economics and later a master’s in business.
However, his greatest accomplishment at Rutgers was finding and loving Joan, meeting for the first time at 19-years-old in an honors seminar. From that moment, they were inseparable, building a life together and supporting each other through the highs and lows of higher education. The couple spent all of their time together, summering on Long Beach Island, diving in the Caribbean, and laughing over dinners with their many siblings.
In 1990, Joan and Eric married, living in Rockaway, NJ, where he commuted daily into New York City for his finance work at Ernst & Young, and later Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, and TD Bank. He was a consummate insurance investment banker and absolutely adept and facile in all thing’s insurance related. He was an innovator over several decades, and his contributions to insurance through his various innovations are immeasurable. Hard work was a core tenet of his identity, and the efforts he put into the financial world are sure to have long-lasting effects.
In 1997, Joan and Eric welcomed their first-born child, and in 2001, their second. After moving to Denville, the new Tell family unit was officially cemented into the community. Time spent with Joan, Katharine, and Andrew was always the most treasured: trips to Disney World, hiking in Alaska, fishing in the Florida Keys, scuba and snorkeling in the Galapagos, celebrations of communions, birthdays, graduations, band recitals, tae kwon do tournaments, and all kinds of activities. In times at home, the house was always filled with either music, twinkling sounds of Eric’s piano played even in the late hours, or rhythmic pounding on door frames of him practicing his own martial arts. He was a disciplined man, prioritizing respect and honesty, yet also deeply silly and strange, undoubtedly the funniest person in the room. When the Tell family was together, they could speak to one another for hours on end about absolutely nothing important, ignoring everyone else in the room, all because Eric was interested in every facet of whatever was said.
In more recent years, his passion was turned towards the natural: becoming entrenched in the fishing and birding communities of New Jersey, filling the fridges of those he loved with frozen filets, bombarding text message threads with pictures of sparrows. He devoured knowledge and new information happily and eagerly, brimming with fun facts and impeccable understanding. But more than anything, he was motivated by love: love of animals, of the beach, of his family and friends. Eric leaves behind a legacy and a lifetime of deep appreciation and affection in those he left behind. Simple acts like standing on the beach at sunrise, or spotting the flittering wings of a bird you can’t name, or trying to learn something new, all of them will remind us of Eric, instilling us with the love he had.
Joan, Katharine, and Andrew invite you to celebrate the life of their husband and father on Saturday, November 2, 2024, at Norman Dean Funeral Home, in Denville, NJ, beginning at 10am. There will be a viewing from 10am to 1pm, then short service and speeches starting at 1pm until 2pm, with repast to follow. If you would like to contribute to Eric’s memory in your own way, please consider making a charitable contribution to an organization that does amazing work for a great cause; New Jersey Audubon Society, 9 Hardscrabble Road, Bernardsville, NJ 07924. The family sends their humblest thanks to those reaching out during this unprecedented time.
Your absence has gone through me
Like thread through a needle.
Everything I do is stitched with its color.
