Elaine Victoria Goulbourne

Born and raised in New York City, she attended public schools. The youngest of six children, Elaine, a devout Catholic, graduated from Cathedral Catholic High School with honors. Before taking a traditional job, Elaine was a dancer. She then entered employment for the Department of Inspection of the Internal Revenue Service, where she worked for more than 35 years. Elaine started in the secretarial pool and was promoted into the highest ranking supervisory position in the Northeast region before retiring.

She enjoyed traveling to Aruba each year, good food, good drinks and being around family (especially her grandchildren) and friends. She had a prescription from her doctor for one ounce of rum per day and she relished filling that prescription.

She was passionate about her grandchildren and enjoyed seeing them grow up and thrive. She dearly loved her nieces and nephews and spoke about them often.

She enjoyed family gatherings and always looked forward to the holidays as a time to spend with those she cared about. That explains why she always opened her doors for a New Year’s Eve celebration.

Elaine was an avid reader and had an encyclopedic memory.. She had a passion for knowing the latest news and facts on any given topic.

She genuinely cared about others and would go out of her way to be supportive.

Elaine’s legacy is present in this church – her family, real and hand-picked—her friends, some life long, and those who started as strangers but were annexed into our family tree through Aunt Elaine.

Elaine is predecessed by her parents and her sisters, Angelina Williams, Esmeralda Furr, Mercedes Gary and Martha Berrocal. She is survived by her brother, Ferdinand Samuels; her son Lance Goulbourne and daughter Alisa Scott; her son-in-law David and daughter-in-law Muriel; her grandchildren Brandon, Ariel and Raquel; sisters-in-law Emma, Louise and Barbara; brothers-in-law Benjamin and James; nieces Cheryl, Cassandra, Karen, Amelia, Elsie, Kim, Christina and Kyra; nephews Ronald, David, Carlos, Alvin, Michael, Jeffrey; great-nieces Gayla, Cherette, Ashley, Lauren, Tori, Lenora and McKenzie; great-nephews Tyrone, Michael, Brian, Justin, Eric, Alex and Nicholas; and great-grand-niece Moniqua; and a host of cousins, other relatives and friends.

She learned a Cajun French expression which is very fitting “le bons temps roulette” (let the good times roll)…and she did!

Let us remember her warm tenderness, sense of humor, her laughter and her smile.

Elaine was called home on February 8, 2011, but she will be remembered by all who knew her and remains forever in our hearts.