Elaine was born on July 13, 1932 to Thomas and Leah (Doane) Buckridge in the hamlet of Centerbrook in Essex, Connecticut. She was a Nursing Student at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut in 1954-1955. Elaine married the love of her life, William J. Leclercq on January 3, 1955 in Centerbrook, Connecticut. Elaine put her nursing career on hold for several years to become a fulltime wife and mother to her four children and several foster children. In 1960 she left Connecticut and moved to Joliet, Il. Elaine restarted her nursing career at Joliet’s Americana Nursing home after refreshing her credentials at Lewis University in Geriatric Nursing. She began as a floor nurse and quickly moved into Nursing Administration. During the ‘80s and ‘90s, she was a Nursing Consultant where she ensured that Nursing homes in the Northern Illinois region provided excellent care. She was an avid volunteer in the PTA, a family support group for stoke patients that she began, CASA and the Joliet free medical clinic. After retirement in 1996 she moved to Florida where she golfed, played cards, ran the weekly coffee, arrange wellness clinics and was an active member of the Terra Siesta Retirement Community. She was a Christian and member of CMA church in Ellenton, Florida. Elaine was preceded in death by her husband, Bill; her parents; and sister, Jean Spencer.
Survivors include her daughter, Sandra Bennett and (John) of Waco, sons, Richard Leclercq and (Lynn) of Orange, Florida, Paul Leclercq and (Mindy) of Ellenton, Florida, and Thomas Leclercq and (Lisa) of Spotsylvania, Virginia; grandchildren: Kimberly Bishop and (Nate), Adam Bennett, Paul Leclercq, Jr. and (Sarah), Matthew Leclercq and (Megan), Thomas Leclercq and (Stephanie), Timothy Leclercq and (Sarah); 10 great-grandchildren; a brother, William Buckridge and (Betty) of Essex, CT; and her four legged friend, Katy.
The family would like to extend their sincerest thanks to the Brookdale Lake Brazos’s Memory Care Unit for their kind and loving care of Elaine over the past 5 years. Donations can be made in her name to the National Alzheimer Association.
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