Elise Eaves

1919 - 2017

Eaves, Elise
98, passed away on March 13, 2017, in Scottsdale, Arizona. She was born to the late Charles Hunter and Elise Heath of Atlanta, Georgia, on February 7, 1919. Elise attended the University of Georgia where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta. She quit midway through her education to return to Atlanta to help her father battle cancer, even though he wanted her to continue education. Still, she was the light in her father's eyes and he gained an uplifting through her sunny disposition as she drove him to and from cancer radiation treatments and then on to his work at Georgia Savings. They were devoted to each other. Teachers were in high demand in Ohio in the early fifties. Elise was approached to consider teaching as she had some college. She accepted and found a passion that would last thirty years. She graduated from Baldwin Wallace College in 1964. Her positive influence on hundreds of children, whom she loved and challenged, was rewarded by her inclusion into Delta Kappa Gamma, an honorary educational fraternity. Always interested in new and better educational trends she would later be tapped to be a part of the "open concept" teaching method in Medina City Schools. She was a natural and successful. Family, friends, and church were Elise's passion and interest. Her love, unyielding support and attention to her children, step-children, and grandchildren was unsurpassed. Elise's older siblings, Chase and Kitty, preceded her death. Three husbands also preceded Elise's death: Richard Wilson (father of her three children), Harlan Bryenton, and Peter Eaves. She is survived by her children, Nancy Rossman Epstein of Scottsdale (Sheldon), Richard Wilson (Mollie) of Medina, Ohio and Sally Wakeland of Boston, Massachusetts and Kennebunkport, Me. She is survived by two stepchildren: Don Bryenton (Becky) of Indianapolis, and Dean Bryenton, of Woodstock, Georgia. Also surviving are six grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Elise was a long time resident of Medina and Lodi, Ohio. She grew up in Atlanta and returned there in 1994 where she lived with her husband, Peter, until moving to Arizona in 2016. Even though 97 at the time, she enjoyed living at Pueblo Norte where she made friends, enjoyed visits from family in her lovely apartment, and got many interested in learning her favorite game, Rummikub. Always smiling and quick to laugh, she accepted change with dignity and tried her best to adjust. In that way, people considered her an inspiration. A memorial service will be held in Ohio later on. Contributions to Hospice of the Valley, in Elise's honor, would be greatly appreciated by the family.