2007.03.23: March 23, 2007: Headlines: COS - Poland: COS - Sierra Leone: Obituaries: San Fransisco Chroncle: Obituary for Poland and Sierra Leone RPCV Ellen Elliot
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2007.03.23: March 23, 2007: Headlines: COS - Poland: COS - Sierra Leone: Obituaries: San Fransisco Chroncle: Obituary for Poland and Sierra Leone RPCV Ellen Elliot
Obituary for Poland and Sierra Leone RPCV Ellen Elliot
Mrs. Elliott's passion for social causes provided the framework for an adventurous life. Her charity work took her to West Africa, Nigeria, India and Poland. In the Bay Area, she championed fair redistricting rules in state government, opened educational opportunities to poor children on the Peninsula, started a message service for inmates at the San Mateo County Jail, fed the poor in East Palo Alto, and, as the public face of the League of Women Voters, advocated for more open government on television and radio. She tried her hand at book publishing, after returning to the Peace Corps with her husband to help promote tourism in Poland during its transition back to democracy in 1991. While she was leading community-building groups there, Mrs. Elliott was also editing a book about the history of the large prewar Jewish community in the area, "Jewish Bialystok and Surroundings in Eastern Poland." The book was favorably reviewed by the New York Times and is now in its second edition.
Obituary for Poland and Sierra Leone RPCV Ellen Elliot
Ellen J. Elliott -- passionate activist
Meredith May, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, March 23, 2007
Longtime Bay Area activist Ellen J. Elliott, a San Mateo Women's Hall of Famer who started the first televised debates for the League of Women Voters and led a 10-year legal battle to racially integrate the Ravenswood City School District, died in her San Francisco home March 9 after a six-year battle with intestinal cancer. She was 73.
Mrs. Elliott's passion for social causes provided the framework for an adventurous life. Her charity work took her to West Africa, Nigeria, India and Poland. In the Bay Area, she championed fair redistricting rules in state government, opened educational opportunities to poor children on the Peninsula, started a message service for inmates at the San Mateo County Jail, fed the poor in East Palo Alto, and, as the public face of the League of Women Voters, advocated for more open government on television and radio.
Mrs. Elliott earned a business degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1954 after growing up in Buenos Aires and London.
On a work trip to California in 1958, as a market researcher for Vick Chemical Co. of New York, she met the man who would become her husband, David Elliott, on a blind date.
"We used to go out for martinis after work in San Francisco, and I had two and fell asleep and was late to pick her up by an hour," said Mr. Elliott. "I was apologizing, and she just said, 'Hi, come on in,' and never acknowledged it. She's been serene and calm ever since. I could never get her into an argument with me."
They were married within months, and Mrs. Elliott became a field researcher in San Francisco.
Within five years, the couple and their two young children packed up to join the Peace Corps in West Africa. They directed volunteers in Sierra Leone, Nigeria and New Delhi, where their third child was born.
By 1970, the family was back in the Bay Area, and Mrs. Elliott found a new issue to tackle. She helped form the Mid-Peninsula Task Force for Integrated Education, and, after a 10-year legal battle, created more opportunities for students in the Ravenswood City School District and the nearby predominantly white school districts.
At the same time, Mrs. Elliott was rising in the ranks of the League of Women Voters, and she helped set up the first televised programs for political candidates. She became the spokeswoman for the League, and helped qualify a 1990 ballot initiative that would strip the Legislature of its power to draw election district lines.
"The system by which we redistrict is flawed in a major way," Mrs. Elliott said at the time, "because lawmakers draw district boundaries so that they will be safe in the next election and so that the party in power will stay there."
Mrs. Elliott somehow also found time to serve as a program officer with the International Diplomacy Council, a disaster relief worker with the Red Cross and a volunteer assistant for San Francisco Supervisor Sophie Maxwell.
Between 1980 and 1985, Mrs. Elliott ran her own catering business, Chez Vous, delivering gourmet dinners to upscale Peninsula homes and Stanford University departments. She sold the business for a modest profit, and liked to joke that the experience was equivalent to earning an MBA -- yet she was able to get paid at the same time.
Next she tried her hand at book publishing, after returning to the Peace Corps with her husband to help promote tourism in Poland during its transition back to democracy in 1991. While she was leading community-building groups there, Mrs. Elliott was also editing a book about the history of the large prewar Jewish community in the area, "Jewish Bialystok and Surroundings in Eastern Poland." The book was favorably reviewed by the New York Times and is now in its second edition.
For relaxation, Mrs. Elliott enjoyed theater, ballet, a good book and spending time with her friends on the tennis court, playing bridge or going for a morning walk.
Mrs. Elliott is survived by David, her husband of 48 years; sons Andrew of Colorado Springs and Fred Elliott-Hart of Boston; daughter Karen Elliott of Port Townsend, Wash.; sister Margaret Nyhus of New York; brother Paul Nyhus of Kensington, Md.; seven grandchildren; and two daughters-in-law.
A memorial service is planned for 11 a.m. April 12 at the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, 950 Santa Cruz Ave., Menlo Park.
Contributions in Mrs. Elliott's memory may be sent to the League of Women Voters of California, Education Fund, 801 12th St., Sacramento, CA 95814; or to the National Peace Corps Association, 1900 L St. NW, Washington, DC 20036.
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Story Source: San Fransisco Chroncle
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Poland; COS - Sierra Leone; Obituaries
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