Eileen Metzger, ’63

6/19/1945-11/25/2018

Survived by her sisters Janette ’68 and Jennifer ’68, as well as many nieces and nephews, preceded in death by her parents and brother Gary, Eileen was a long-standing member of the San Juan Alumni Association. She held many positions, including 12 years as President. Her devotion to the SJAA mission and to the students of San Juan High School supported $370,550 in scholarships that were awarded to 258 students.

Eileen was known by many in the early 60’s as a classmate, then later as a 35-year member of the SJAA. She was the glue that held the SJAA together, as well as many other charitable organizations for which she served. Many saw her tenacious commitment to excellence and correctness as an assurance that a job would be well done with absolute integrity. Eileen was hard working, intelligent, caring and thoughtful. She was very close to her family and had many friends who cared deeply about her. 

Eileen always lived her life to the fullest and loved to laugh and smile. Whenever any of us felt down or overwhelmed, she was there to lean on and “make it all better.” We knew we could always count on her. And so did the students. Not having children of her own never stopped Eileen from mothering every student that she encountered. She guided and aided them in any capacity necessary to meet their needs.
Eileen taught us all a lot, from simple little everyday life issues, to more important things like the value of friendship and how to balance career and family.

Just before Eileen passed, she sent a note to her sisters, who shared it with close friend and classmate, Lenore (Leedy) Wellings, ’63. Lenore shared Eileen’s final thoughts with us as good advice and something to remember Eileen by. If you didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to Eileen, we hope that these words may be of comfort to you.

“I am saddened to be leaving each one of you, however, I am going to spend eternity with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
I am writing this message be-cause God is calling me home, but I first wanted you to know that each and every one of you had your own little piece of my heart. I love you all and will miss you Here is a quote from former coach Lou Holtz of Notre Dame.
These words mean a lot to me.
Love, Eileen” 

Do the right thing
Do everything to the best of your ability
Care deeply about others
Help others to be successful
Pass along the credit to others
Speak kindly to others

It isn’t possible to put into words how much Eileen meant to all of us. She positively influenced all of our lives by her spirit of giving and caring and we will miss her so much. Eileen, thank you for your friendship. Thank you for always being you!

CLASS OF 1963 TRIBUTE TO EILEEN METZGER

Eileen Metzger succumbed to her battle against Lymphoma cancer on November 25th, 2018 in Roseville, CA. The class of 1963 lost another classmate and the Sacramento area and beyond lost a faithful “champion” of many causes.

Among Eileen’s many accomplishments during her lifetime, she was a devoted advocate for the students of San Juan High School, and an integral force in the Alumni Association. She was committed to not only making her class reunions successful but in finding “lost” classmates. She spent most of her life generously giving away her time and talents to one cause or another. Many charities and organizations benefit-ted from her dedicated efforts.

Many classmates have expressed a desire to honor Eileen in a special way. A scholarship or a bench for senior square have been suggested. Named-scholarships are generally awarded at the $2,000 level. They can go on to be annual named-scholarships if that amount is collected each year. This amount is not required, however. If donations are less than $2,000 for that year, those monies would be awarded as a part of the general unnamed SJAA scholarships.

Donors will receive acknowledgement for donations in the name of Eileen and be listed in the SJAA news-letter (without the amount donated unless the donor so requests). Benches for senior square are priced at about $1,300. With that information in mind, should you wish to make a contribution towards a memorial for Eileen, you can make donations to: 

In Memoriam for Eileen Metzger, ‘63
San Juan Alumni Association
P.O. Box 103
Citrus Heights, CA 95611-0103

Donors will receive a letter of acknowledgement for their tax-deductible donation. Kathy Sasabuchi, SJAA’a financial secretary, will also provide a tally of the amount donated so we can determine how our class wants to use the monies.