Elaine grew up in The Bronx in New York City, among a close-knit group of family members and friends. A lot of this closeness was due to her parents, Vinny (Vincenza Genovese) and Leonard, being brought up in the same neighborhood, on and near 2429 Maclay Avenue, and also since both her parents had several siblings. So the world of first cousins was really a world of friends and companions, where her company was cherished as she grew up. Her father nicknamed her "Cookie" for her sweetness and her peaceful expression, a name that stayed with her through her life among a group of cousins.
Elaine would have been cherished anywhere she grew up. She was an attentive listener, and she would show that she cared about her companions by what she would say, and by her confidence in saying it. Her candor, wit, and cheerfulness, tempered by a sense of reserve, made her a true friend to many, including those in the family orbit. While she was younger than many of her cousins, she was such fun to be around and so enthusiastic that she was always welcome on their adventures.
Elaine graduated high school at Mother Butler Memorial High School near Pelham Parkway and Eastchester Road in the East Bronx. As many have, this school has been closed since before the turn of the century. A few years later, in the late 1960s, she graduated from Good Counsel College of White Plains – which in the next decade would become the College of White Plains, and later part of Pace University.
Those teen years through the mid-1960s were also years of continued closeness to family. Many on the Mauro side were a bit older and had moved on to careers and families. But the Genovese side included a younger set where she and her parents found companions, both near home and during summers at Southampton. An uncle's cottage attracted many cousins, and when her parents could get away from their grueling hours in the Bronx, they would join as well, for the precious chance to relax near the beach with the in-laws.
Her college degree, the first in her direct family line, led to being a third-grade schoolteacher in the Pine Plains district, New York. But Pine Plains, a district that even now has about 1,000 students pre-K through 12, takes us a ride away from The Bronx, doesn't it? As we remember, the 1960s were a time of change.
Among Elaine's extended family, some passed on, and others had moved to Florida. For her parents, life in New York City had become hard, as for many others. Their dry-cleaning shop in the South Bronx was robbed three times, the last with her parents tied up. Like many looking for peace and better scenery, they left. Their home in Clinton Corners, New York, near Poughkeepsie, would be a place of peace and the beautiful surroundings of the Hudson Valley, one that hosted many family visits.
In these adult years in Clinton Corners in upstate New York Elaine remained close with uncles, aunts, and cousins on both the Genovese and the Mauro sides of the family. For example, cousin Jeanie (Genovese side) lived nearby, and cousin Arthur (Mauro side) also did for about eight years, running a pizzeria. She remained devoted to, and lived with, her parents.
With Elaine's retirement in her mid-50s, and her parents' advancing in age and declining health, it was time for this branch of the Mauros to head to Florida. First, they lived part-time in a mobile home park in Largo, where many of her father's sisters had lived. After a few visits, they purchased a home in Clearwater, one with a cooling, screened-in pool in the back.
The late 1990s brought Elaine to a new role as caregiver and visitor to her ailing parents. By 1998 her Mom, Vinny, had passed away. Then, when the time came for her Dad, Leonard, so many years in great humor despite some hard times, to need special care, Elaine found a nearby place for him to stay and receive care until his passing in 2001.
Elaine stayed in touch with relatives through visits and phone calls, and met new friends and neighbors in Clearwater. Through the decade of the 2000s, a new generation of relatives, her cousins, was around for visits and going out. As time passed, life's challenges of work, health, and family obligation made these familial visits fewer and further between. Still, many surviving relatives, and her Clearwater friends, have cherished her warmth, candor, and wit, through these years. She cherished the mums along her walkway, that she and her Dad planted, for these years until her own recent illness.
Elaine's passing, still younger than many surviving cousins and an aunt on her mother's side, has been a loss for many. They look back to both the cheerful and hard times, the times of sharing both intimate and playful conversation. They see someone who in so many ways left the world a better place and who has moved on much too soon.
Elaine would have been cherished anywhere she grew up. She was an attentive listener, and she would show that she cared about her companions by what she would say, and by her confidence in saying it. Her candor, wit, and cheerfulness, tempered by a sense of reserve, made her a true friend to many, including those in the family orbit. While she was younger than many of her cousins, she was such fun to be around and so enthusiastic that she was always welcome on their adventures.
Elaine graduated high school at Mother Butler Memorial High School near Pelham Parkway and Eastchester Road in the East Bronx. As many have, this school has been closed since before the turn of the century. A few years later, in the late 1960s, she graduated from Good Counsel College of White Plains – which in the next decade would become the College of White Plains, and later part of Pace University.
Those teen years through the mid-1960s were also years of continued closeness to family. Many on the Mauro side were a bit older and had moved on to careers and families. But the Genovese side included a younger set where she and her parents found companions, both near home and during summers at Southampton. An uncle's cottage attracted many cousins, and when her parents could get away from their grueling hours in the Bronx, they would join as well, for the precious chance to relax near the beach with the in-laws.
Her college degree, the first in her direct family line, led to being a third-grade schoolteacher in the Pine Plains district, New York. But Pine Plains, a district that even now has about 1,000 students pre-K through 12, takes us a ride away from The Bronx, doesn't it? As we remember, the 1960s were a time of change.
Among Elaine's extended family, some passed on, and others had moved to Florida. For her parents, life in New York City had become hard, as for many others. Their dry-cleaning shop in the South Bronx was robbed three times, the last with her parents tied up. Like many looking for peace and better scenery, they left. Their home in Clinton Corners, New York, near Poughkeepsie, would be a place of peace and the beautiful surroundings of the Hudson Valley, one that hosted many family visits.
In these adult years in Clinton Corners in upstate New York Elaine remained close with uncles, aunts, and cousins on both the Genovese and the Mauro sides of the family. For example, cousin Jeanie (Genovese side) lived nearby, and cousin Arthur (Mauro side) also did for about eight years, running a pizzeria. She remained devoted to, and lived with, her parents.
With Elaine's retirement in her mid-50s, and her parents' advancing in age and declining health, it was time for this branch of the Mauros to head to Florida. First, they lived part-time in a mobile home park in Largo, where many of her father's sisters had lived. After a few visits, they purchased a home in Clearwater, one with a cooling, screened-in pool in the back.
The late 1990s brought Elaine to a new role as caregiver and visitor to her ailing parents. By 1998 her Mom, Vinny, had passed away. Then, when the time came for her Dad, Leonard, so many years in great humor despite some hard times, to need special care, Elaine found a nearby place for him to stay and receive care until his passing in 2001.
Elaine stayed in touch with relatives through visits and phone calls, and met new friends and neighbors in Clearwater. Through the decade of the 2000s, a new generation of relatives, her cousins, was around for visits and going out. As time passed, life's challenges of work, health, and family obligation made these familial visits fewer and further between. Still, many surviving relatives, and her Clearwater friends, have cherished her warmth, candor, and wit, through these years. She cherished the mums along her walkway, that she and her Dad planted, for these years until her own recent illness.
Elaine's passing, still younger than many surviving cousins and an aunt on her mother's side, has been a loss for many. They look back to both the cheerful and hard times, the times of sharing both intimate and playful conversation. They see someone who in so many ways left the world a better place and who has moved on much too soon.
Elaine grew up in The Bronx in New York City, among a close-knit group of family members and friends. A lot of this closeness was due to her parents, Vinny (Vincenza Genovese) and Leonard, being brought up in the same neighborhood, on and near 2429 Maclay Avenue, and also since both her parents had several siblings. So the world of first cousins was really a world of friends and companions, where her company was cherished as she grew up. Her father nicknamed her "Cookie" for her sweetness and her peaceful expression, a name that stayed with her through her life among a group of cousins.
Elaine would have been cherished anywhere she grew up. She was an attentive listener, and she would show that she cared about her companions by what she would say, and by her confidence in saying it. Her candor, wit, and cheerfulness, tempered by a sense of reserve, made her a true friend to many, including those in the family orbit. While she was younger than many of her cousins, she was such fun to be around and so enthusiastic that she was always welcome on their adventures.
Elaine graduated high school at Mother Butler Memorial High School near Pelham Parkway and Eastchester Road in the East Bronx. As many have, this school has been closed since before the turn of the century. A few years later, in the late 1960s, she graduated from Good Counsel College of White Plains – which in the next decade would become the College of White Plains, and later part of Pace University.
Those teen years through the mid-1960s were also years of continued closeness to family. Many on the Mauro side were a bit older and had moved on to careers and families. But the Genovese side included a younger set where she and her parents found companions, both near home and during summers at Southampton. An uncle's cottage attracted many cousins, and when her parents could get away from their grueling hours in the Bronx, they would join as well, for the precious chance to relax near the beach with the in-laws.
Her college degree, the first in her direct family line, led to being a third-grade schoolteacher in the Pine Plains district, New York. But Pine Plains, a district that even now has about 1,000 students pre-K through 12, takes us a ride away from The Bronx, doesn't it? As we remember, the 1960s were a time of change.
Among Elaine's extended family, some passed on, and others had moved to Florida. For her parents, life in New York City had become hard, as for many others. Their dry-cleaning shop in the South Bronx was robbed three times, the last with her parents tied up. Like many looking for peace and better scenery, they left. Their home in Clinton Corners, New York, near Poughkeepsie, would be a place of peace and the beautiful surroundings of the Hudson Valley, one that hosted many family visits.
In these adult years in Clinton Corners in upstate New York Elaine remained close with uncles, aunts, and cousins on both the Genovese and the Mauro sides of the family. For example, cousin Jeanie (Genovese side) lived nearby, and cousin Arthur (Mauro side) also did for about eight years, running a pizzeria. She remained devoted to, and lived with, her parents.
With Elaine's retirement in her mid-50s, and her parents' advancing in age and declining health, it was time for this branch of the Mauros to head to Florida. First, they lived part-time in a mobile home park in Largo, where many of her father's sisters had lived. After a few visits, they purchased a home in Clearwater, one with a cooling, screened-in pool in the back.
The late 1990s brought Elaine to a new role as caregiver and visitor to her ailing parents. By 1998 her Mom, Vinny, had passed away. Then, when the time came for her Dad, Leonard, so many years in great humor despite some hard times, to need special care, Elaine found a nearby place for him to stay and receive care until his passing in 2001.
Elaine stayed in touch with relatives through visits and phone calls, and met new friends and neighbors in Clearwater. Through the decade of the 2000s, a new generation of relatives, her cousins, was around for visits and going out. As time passed, life's challenges of work, health, and family obligation made these familial visits fewer and further between. Still, many surviving relatives, and her Clearwater friends, have cherished her warmth, candor, and wit, through these years. She cherished the mums along her walkway, that she and her Dad planted, for these years until her own recent illness.
Elaine's passing, still younger than many surviving cousins and an aunt on her mother's side, has been a loss for many. They look back to both the cheerful and hard times, the times of sharing both intimate and playful conversation. They see someone who in so many ways left the world a better place and who has moved on much too soon.
Elaine would have been cherished anywhere she grew up. She was an attentive listener, and she would show that she cared about her companions by what she would say, and by her confidence in saying it. Her candor, wit, and cheerfulness, tempered by a sense of reserve, made her a true friend to many, including those in the family orbit. While she was younger than many of her cousins, she was such fun to be around and so enthusiastic that she was always welcome on their adventures.
Elaine graduated high school at Mother Butler Memorial High School near Pelham Parkway and Eastchester Road in the East Bronx. As many have, this school has been closed since before the turn of the century. A few years later, in the late 1960s, she graduated from Good Counsel College of White Plains – which in the next decade would become the College of White Plains, and later part of Pace University.
Those teen years through the mid-1960s were also years of continued closeness to family. Many on the Mauro side were a bit older and had moved on to careers and families. But the Genovese side included a younger set where she and her parents found companions, both near home and during summers at Southampton. An uncle's cottage attracted many cousins, and when her parents could get away from their grueling hours in the Bronx, they would join as well, for the precious chance to relax near the beach with the in-laws.
Her college degree, the first in her direct family line, led to being a third-grade schoolteacher in the Pine Plains district, New York. But Pine Plains, a district that even now has about 1,000 students pre-K through 12, takes us a ride away from The Bronx, doesn't it? As we remember, the 1960s were a time of change.
Among Elaine's extended family, some passed on, and others had moved to Florida. For her parents, life in New York City had become hard, as for many others. Their dry-cleaning shop in the South Bronx was robbed three times, the last with her parents tied up. Like many looking for peace and better scenery, they left. Their home in Clinton Corners, New York, near Poughkeepsie, would be a place of peace and the beautiful surroundings of the Hudson Valley, one that hosted many family visits.
In these adult years in Clinton Corners in upstate New York Elaine remained close with uncles, aunts, and cousins on both the Genovese and the Mauro sides of the family. For example, cousin Jeanie (Genovese side) lived nearby, and cousin Arthur (Mauro side) also did for about eight years, running a pizzeria. She remained devoted to, and lived with, her parents.
With Elaine's retirement in her mid-50s, and her parents' advancing in age and declining health, it was time for this branch of the Mauros to head to Florida. First, they lived part-time in a mobile home park in Largo, where many of her father's sisters had lived. After a few visits, they purchased a home in Clearwater, one with a cooling, screened-in pool in the back.
The late 1990s brought Elaine to a new role as caregiver and visitor to her ailing parents. By 1998 her Mom, Vinny, had passed away. Then, when the time came for her Dad, Leonard, so many years in great humor despite some hard times, to need special care, Elaine found a nearby place for him to stay and receive care until his passing in 2001.
Elaine stayed in touch with relatives through visits and phone calls, and met new friends and neighbors in Clearwater. Through the decade of the 2000s, a new generation of relatives, her cousins, was around for visits and going out. As time passed, life's challenges of work, health, and family obligation made these familial visits fewer and further between. Still, many surviving relatives, and her Clearwater friends, have cherished her warmth, candor, and wit, through these years. She cherished the mums along her walkway, that she and her Dad planted, for these years until her own recent illness.
Elaine's passing, still younger than many surviving cousins and an aunt on her mother's side, has been a loss for many. They look back to both the cheerful and hard times, the times of sharing both intimate and playful conversation. They see someone who in so many ways left the world a better place and who has moved on much too soon.
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