Born on January 27, 1916 in Menominee, Michigan, Elaine was the tenth of the eleven children of Alexina (Pilon) and Joseph Hebert. She was a tomboy as a child, known as Petey within the family and in her neighborhood. She loved being part of a large French-Canadian brood running wild in the woods of upper Michigan.
Elaine graduated from Menominee High School in the midst of the Great Depression. As a young woman, bride, and mother, she moved several times back and forth across the country before finally settling in Vista in 1958. Elaine raised three children and volunteered at Tri-City Hospital for a quarter of a century. She was grateful for the many dear friends she made at St. Francis Catholic Church, where she was active for decades, including in the Altar and Rosary Society and Young at Heart.
Elaine dried or canned the best apricots from trees in her backyard and made a fine cobbler from the blackberries and boysenberries that once grew in the creek behind her home. A sun-sweetened orange was hard for her to resist: well past the age of 100, she was still occasionally caught climbing a tree to pick one. Pity the poor souls who sat down to play cards with her, whether bridge, pinochle, poker or cribbage. A Republican for much of her adult life, she did enthusiastically vote twice for Barack Obama. She was forever a football fan devoted to the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame and the Green Bay Packers.
Elaine was preceded in death by her parents, by her beloved siblings Edna, Claude, Marguerite, Gaston (Gus), Maurice, Armand, Rosemary, Clarence, Dorothy, and Milton (Joey), and by her precious eldest child, John David Pratola. She is survived by a daughter, Marianne King, son-in-law Byron King, a son, Don Pratola, daughter-in-law Caitlin Victoria Featherstone, grandchildren, including Elliot King who assisted her in her last years making it possible for her to remain in her home, and great-grandchildren.
Those wishing to make a donation in memory of Elaine might consider one of the following:
Brother Benno Foundation – feeding and sheltering those in need in north San Diego County. Online at https://www.brotherbenno.org/one-time-donation/
St. Francis of Assisi Sack Lunch Ministry – providing lunches to the hungry in Vista. Send check to St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 525 W Vista Way, Vista, CA 92083. Indicate “Sack Lunch Ministry” in check memo line.
Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego Covid Relief Fund – online at https://ccdsd.org/covid-donate
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