Elaine Atwood

In Loving Memory
Elaine Solari Atwood
April 25, 1943 – June 11, 2011

Born in Chicago on Easter Sunday, 1943, the oldest of six siblings, Elaine Solari Atwood grew up in Chicago, Upper Montclair, New Jersey, and Manhasset, New York. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Newton College of the Sacred Heart in Boston and a law degree from Fordham University. She was a member of the New York Bar and subsequently the Ohio State Bar. She practiced law in New York City in her twenties and married Conant Atwood in 1970. They lived briefly in Mount Vernon, New York, for ten years in Columbus, Ohio, and for seven years in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. They had two daughters, Ellis (nee Elisabeth), born in 1972, and Amanda, born 1976. The Atwoods divorced in 1991. Elaine moved to Boca Raton, Florida in 1995, where she lived until her death.

In addition to raising her children, while in Ohio, Elaine served on the board of the Diocesan Child Guidance Center. In New Jersey, she worked as a manager for Waldenbooks and Midlantic Bank and served as a lector at Saint Paul's Catholic church in Princeton. When she moved to Florida, Elaine worked as a bookkeeper for Paula Slotky Interior Design and served as treasurer for her condominium association.

Elaine loved the simple pleasures of reading, making her daily cappuccino, and seeing the pink light of morning enter her home each day. She delighted in hosting exquisitely planned small gatherings at her home and in creating silk-ribbon embroidery, beaded jewelry, and scrapbooks. Every event she planned and every project she took on reflected both the high standards she held for herself and her profound love of beauty, order, ritual, friends, and family. Those who knew her will remember her loving attention to the details of her life and the way she expressed that attention through gifts chosen with thoughtful and tender care.

Elaine struggled with painful arthritis throughout her adult life. On June 10th, 2011, at home, in her favorite chair, she suddenly suffered a double brain hemorrhage, and died the next day surrounded by the love of her siblings and their spouses and partners.

She is survived by daughter Amanda Atwood, daughter Ellis Avery and partner Sharon Marcus; brother Joseph Solari and wife Tricia, sister Gail Garrisan and partner Danielle Le Moal, brother Robert Solari and wife Jackie, sister Linda Reilly and husband Neil, brother Michael Solari and partner John Thompson; nephew Joseph Solari and wife Camilla, niece Nicole Reilly, nephew Kevin Reilly; grand-nephew George Hansten Solari, grand-niece Anetta Berit Solari, as well as by cousins and friends, especially Maureen Armstrong and her family, Dorothy Hopkin, and the many, many more her life has touched, enriched, and delighted.
Arrangements under the direction of Babione Funeral Home, Boca Raton, FL.