Eileen Atkins, 73, was a psychiatric nurse who loved cooking

Eileen Ann Atkins was a registered nurse who would come home distressed because her patients didn’t have enough blankets.

But she also looked for beauty in life. An excellent cook and gardener, she set a perfect table and kept pristine flower beds.

There was something about working as a psychiatric nurse that appealed to Mrs. Atkins’ compassion for the less fortunate.

She didn’t just care for her patients at work. She testified at board meetings of the old Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute and advocated for better conditions.

“My mother was a wonderful woman,” said daughter Krista. “She deeply cared about people who were the underdogs in society.

“She recognized that people are thrown into situations that are not their fault. She had enormous compassion for people who were born into terrible circumstances.”

Formerly of Blue Bell, Mrs. Atkins, 73, died Wednesday, April 22, from dementia and the coronavirus at the Broomall Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Marple Township.

Born in Philadelphia, she was the second child in William and Eileen Rockenbach’s family of three boys and two girls.

“The grit and resilience she demonstrated was unbelievable.”

She attended Little Flower High School in Hunting Park. After her family moved to Feasterville, she graduated from Bishop Conwell High School.

At Bucks County Community College, she studied nursing and graduated as a registered nurse.

While working at Nazareth Hospital, she met her husband, Joseph C. Atkins, through a fellow nurse. For a while, Mrs. Atkins stopped working to raise their son and daughter.

But when she was 34, her husband was killed in a car accident in 1983, and Mrs. Atkins had to overcome grief to rear her children, then 9 and 4, alone.

“The grit and resilience she demonstrated was unbelievable,” said her son, Joshua H. Atkins. "She gave us a strong confidence that we could get through any challenges in life.”

She first worked as a school nurse, and had other nursing jobs before working at the old Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute on Henry Avenue. She later worked at other behavioral health hospitals in Montgomery County.

She also enjoyed reading and traveling to Ireland, and dreamed of retiring to a cottage in Derry, her ancestral home.

In addition to her children, Mrs. Atkins is survived by one grandson, three brothers and many nieces and nephews.

Services and interment are private.

— Valerie Russ