Elaine Simon

1950 - 2023

Elaine Simon passed away on August 23rd after a brave six year battle with stage 4 urothelial carcinoma. Elaine was a caring, generous and kind force of nature who will be forever missed by her family and many friends. Her intelligence and intellectual curiosity beamed from her eyes, and her ready smile and laugh flowed from her wonderful sense of humor. The world has lost a great soul, but it was made infinitely better by her time here. Elaine was born in Pittsburgh on January 4, 1950, to Aileen and Bill Hollister, who immediately gave her up for adoption to Joe and Vicky Kuberka Lesko. She grew up in Cayahoga Falls, Ohio, attending Catholic and public schools. Proud of being a Buckeye, she graduated "the" Ohio State University (at 20) in 1970 - shortly after the nearby Kent State shooting that forever marked her memories. She moved to southern California, where she obtained her Master's Degree in Industrial Psychology from the California State University at Long Beach. In 1975 she moved to Boulder, following her very close friends Donna and Larry Brand. During the 70s and 80s she did secretarial and then personnel management work for three of Boulder's iconic companies: Jericho, Hanson Boots and then Alfalfas. Elaine left Alfalfas when she gave birth to her son Adam Meyer Estroff in 1988 and entered the profession she truly loved: weight training. She was an epochal weight trainer, combining her love for "picking up and putting down heavy pieces of metal" with her love for bonding with and helping other women. She was Boulder's first female weight trainer, and with the help of her friends was able to break through a glass ceiling that was keeping her from taking private clients at Boulder's then premier athletic club. Weight training was truly an affair of her heart, and she left it only when arthritis made it difficult for her to model the correct form for every rep that made her such a great trainer. In later years, she led breast cancer survivors in training classes that ultimately inspired one of her ladies to become a new legend in Boulder weight training. Shortly before her 50th birthday she met Peter Simon, a CU law professor. Their magical love affair lit up the world for both of them, from their meeting in 1999 to the present. Together they raised Adam to be the fine young man he is today (though Elaine had already done the hard part), and after he left for college they embarked on their own adventure - ocean sailing. In 2006 they bought a large sloop in San Diego, and spent the next five years cruising the Pacific waters from San Francisco to Panama City. In 2012 they purchased a catamaran in France, brought it across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, and then to Miami, Rhode Island, Bermuda and many, many visits to the islands of the eastern Caribbean. Elaine was the Admiral, and was very much in charge; Peter was blessed to serve under her wise supervision. After her cancer diagnosis in 2017, Elaine was given a prognosis of six to nine months. But with the help of her great physical and emotional strength, her amazing pluck, her remarkable medical team at Anschutz and a lot of luck, Elaine managed not only to fight back but to thrive. No matter how bad the news, Elaine picked herself up, smiled and found a way not only to enjoy the days that remained, but to cheer everyone around her. After six years of her valiant, good humored, ever sharp but genial life with cancer, Elaine died peacefully, surrounded by friends, on August 23, 2023. She is survived by Peter and Adam (Kaitlin) and grandson Isaac, her brother and sister-in-law Bill and Diane Hollister and her niece Laura Hollister. Elaine has donated her remains to the CU Medical School. Friends can send donations in her honor to the Anschutz Cancer Pavilion, CU School of Medicine: https://giving. cu.edu/fund/cancer-center-general-research-fund