Elizabeth Stowitts Elliott, 100. Elizabeth was born in Battle Creek, Michigan on May 26, 1913, the daughter of Frank and Cora Stowitts. She married the best man she ever knew, Frederick Dwight Elliott, on September 6, 1936. They had for children: Judith McNeirney(John), Michael Elliott(Judy), Diane Elliott (Steve Johnson), and Steven (Mara), thirteen grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren. She died at home in Smithfield, Kentucky on July 11, 2013.
Throughout her one hundred years of life, she was always ready for new adventures. She could recall the victory celebrations at the end of the First World War. She got her driver’s license in 1927 and enjoyed driving on country roads in an era before speed limits. She flew in a bi-plane on her sixteenth birthday. She was an enthusiastic equestrian and a member of the Battle Creek Hunt Club in the 1940’s. She drove a car until she was 97 and never went slowly because “that is how old people drive.”
She was a talented artist trained at Michigan State University and produced many pieces of art, working in oil, glass, tapestry and other visual media. As a young woman, she sang the classical choral repertoire and debuted in concert in 1934. She sang Gershwin and Porter when she was happy but “Autumn Leaves” made her sad because it reminded her of her father. She passed her love of art to all her clan and inspired many of them to become creative artists in their own right.
Elizabeth was long active in community service. She drove an ambulance for the Red Cross during the Second World War and continued to volunteer for Red Cross throughout the 1950’s. She was a president of the Albany Medical Center Auxiliary as well as a member of the Board of the Medical Center. She was active in the Albany Institute of History and Art, the Progress Club of Delmar, New York, and the Conrad Caldwell House in Louisville Kentucky. She was a lifelong Republican who regularly cancelled her husband’s vote during the first years of their marriage.
Elizabeth had a legendary positive outlook. She was an inventive cook, a creative homemaker, and a loving wife and mother. She enjoyed summer vacations with her family at Gull Lake in Michigan and on Peaks Island in Maine. She and her husband, Fred, played golf at Silver Springs Country Club in Connecticut and the Normanside Country Club in New York. She was the proprietor of the Treasures and Trifles, an antique and curio shop in the Louisville area. On her 100th birthday she sponsored the Elizabeth Stowitts Elliott Centennial race at Churchill Downs and presented the trophy to the winning jockey. The celebration was attended and enjoyed by numerous family members.
She lived many places around the country, but wherever she was, it was home to her children and grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband in 1991 and her sister Kathryn in 1999. She is survived by all her children and grandchildren.
A Memorial service will be held at 6:00 pm on Wednesday August 7th at St. Lukes Episcopal Church in Anchorage Kentucky.
In leiu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Lukes Episcopal Church, 1206 Maple Lane, Anchorage, KY 40223 or Tri-County Senior Center, 1015 Dispatchers Way, Buckner KY 40010.
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