Born in Brooklyn, he graduated from Manual Training High School and attended the Pratt Institute, both in Brooklyn.
A Korean War veteran, Mr. Elliott served in the U.S. Air Force and saw combat.
He had lived in Great Kills for 40 years.
Mr. Elliott had a 40-year career in telecommunications. He first was a manager for New York Telephone Co., then became an area operations manager for Verizon. He retired in 1997.
He had a great interest in genealogy. Not only had he researched his own family history, he helped others find ship manifests and other documents for their own searches, family said.
He is survived by his wife, the former Dolores Wilson; his son, David Jr.; his daughter, Deborah Garvey, and a brother, Alan.
The funeral will be Thursday from the Casey McCallum Rice South Shore Funeral Home, with a mass at 9:45 a.m. in St. Clare's R.C. Church, both in Great Kills. Burial will follow in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp.
