Elsie Lucille Solaegui
1929-2020
Elsie Lucille Solaegui, 90, passed away on May 18, 2020 from natural causes, four days before Peter, her husband of 66 years. She was born in Hurricane, Utah on December 13, 1929, the eldest child of four, to Firmin and Erma (DeMill) Bruner. She was known for her native intelligence, organization, generosity, and remarkable record keeping.
Elsie's father met her mother while he was working on the construction crew building the first paved road into Zion National Park. During her childhood, the family lived in Virginia City and Sparks, eventually settling in Fallon where Elsie excelled academically and graduated from Churchill County High School in 1948. After graduation, Elsie worked at First National Bank before her marriage to Peter in 1953. She and Pete lived in Gabbs, Nevada until 1965 and then moved to Sparks to raise their five children.
Elsie was devoted to her lifelong Catholic faith and was an active member and faithful parishioner of Immaculate Conception Church and Holy Cross Catholic Community. She was a perennial, dependable volunteer who consistently performed behind-the-scenes tasks essential to operations such as cleaning the church and washing and ironing altar linens. In their later years Elsie and Pete helped count the Sunday parish collection each Monday morning and it was through this activity that their unique dementias began to become apparent, as well as Pete's substantial vision loss due to macular degeneration.
Elsie and Pete were honest, industrious workers who each ruled over their household domain - she inside and he outside - but their brightest hours were when an urgent need brought them together on a project, typically for the benefit of one of their children. Elsie was often available to review term papers and school essays, employing her impressive grasp of history, spelling and English grammar. While she didn't love cooking, she cooked delicious, nutritious dinners by 6:00 PM every night for decades, with everyone then living at home expected to be on-time and present to recount the day's events. Elsie and Pete emphasized to their children that getting an education was of the utmost importance and they were both very proud that all five went on to earn degrees from the University of Nevada, Reno.
In addition to her parents, Elsie was preceded in death by her Basque grandparents Pio and Maria Juana (Ocamica) Ascargorta and her Southern Utah/Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints grandparents Alma and Henrietta (Farnes) DeMill. She is survived by her sisters Norma Achurra of Fallon and Evelyn Johnson of Elizabeth, Colorado, and her brother Donald Bruner of Elko. She also leaves behind her children and their spouses: James of Reno; Paul and Kathy of Reno; John and Steven Allen of San Francisco; Irene and Scot Laney of Wilsonville, Oregon; and Lorraine and Jesse McReynolds of Bellevue, Washington; as well as eight grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
A graveside service for the family will be held in honor of Elsie and Pete at the Churchill County Cemetery on Saturday, June 6, 2020 under the direction of Smith Family Funeral Home. Due to restrictions related to the coronavirus, social distancing protocols will be followed. A memorial service may be scheduled in the future when we can all be together.
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