Elaine Saidnawey Salemy

Elaine Salemy, who raised four children, managed her husband's home-based business, and masterfully played bridge throughout her life, died April 18 at a continuing-care community in New Providence. She was 93. She previously had lived in Mountainside for thirty-nine years.
Elaine Jean Saidnawey was born on March 11, 1931, in Somerville, Mass., to Tofic Saidnawey and Julia (Mudarri) Saidnawey. Her parents had arrived in the United States from Damascus, Syria, in the early part of the twentieth century. The third of four children, she graduated from Cambridge High and Latin School in 1948 and then went to the Fisher School, now Fisher College, for business training. In 1951, she started work as an executive secretary for the IBM Corporation in Boston and remained there for a decade.
She married Louis Salemy on May 15, 1960, at Our Lady of the Cedars of Lebanon Church, a Maronite church in Boston. The couple lived in Belmont, just outside of Boston.
In the late 1960s, Elaine left her quiet, contented life focused on her close-knit extended family in Boston to follow Louis, a salesman, down the Eastern Seaboard. She had to contend with her shy nature to settle her family into new neighborhoods, make lasting friendships, and advocate for equity in public education for children with developmental disabilities. The family moved to Cranford, N.J., and Atlanta before returning to New Jersey, finding a place that she truly loved in Mountainside. Although she never lived in Massachusetts again, she never forgot where she came from: she organized family trips to Cape Cod every summer and to Boston every winter for holiday celebrations with grandmothers, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
In Mountainside, she returned to the business world by managing her husband's active home office with skill and efficiency. She became a valued partner in several bridge groups, participated in the community of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, and volunteered during election years as a challenger, observing the voting process. She was a member of the Mountainside Active Retirees and the Rosary Altar Society.
For Elaine, the act of feeding family and friends was emotionally and spiritually uplifting. A shared meal, she believed, transcends simple sustenance to a communal experience of culture and an expression of deep devotion to others. To celebrate holidays, she cooked multiple entrées to ensure that everyone present could eat something they loved. When attending gatherings in friends' homes or church halls, she always had a casserole or cranberry coffee cake in her hands. Each year during the month of December, her kitchen became a hub of phyllo dough, rose water, and sugar. For weeks, she would bake baklava, apricot squares, date cookies, and other sweets, then package them by the dozen for Louis to bring to his customers and for her to give to friends and neighbors.
She organized cooking groups, where members would research culinary techniques and foods based on themes-favorite foods of the U.S. presidents, for instance-and use those methods and ingredients to make a meal to enjoy together. In addition, she cooked regularly for people with health challenges, including individuals who were HIV-positive in the 1980s and 1990s.
Her bridge-playing started in the 1950s and continued through all of life's stages. She had the same partner in Mountainside bridge groups for decades and, every summer, was a fixture at the card tables at the Mountainside pool. She passed on her love of card games-not only bridge but also rummy, gin rummy, hearts, whist, and hand and foot-to her children, grandchildren, and anyone else who wanted to learn.
Her husband, Louis, died in August 2023 after the couple had been married for sixty-three years. She is survived by two sons, Louis and his wife, Holly, of Concord, Mass., and Stephen and his wife, Cynthia, of Stirling, N.J.; two daughters, Shirley Meyer and her husband, Keith, of Maplewood, N.J., and Julie Salemy of Summit, N.J.; and her sister, Shirley Saidnawey Salamy, of Shrewsbury, Mass. She also is survived by nine grandchildren-Matthew, Christian, and Thomas Salemy; Julianne, Caroline, and Jennifer Salemy; and Meredith, Katherine, and Malachy Meyer-as well as many nieces and nephews. Her two brothers, Leo and Alfred, preceded her in death.
In the final years of their lives, Elaine and Louis benefited immensely from the compassionate, engaging caregivers at Lantern Hill in New Providence. We are deeply grateful for everything that these special staff members did for both of them-as if Elaine and Louis were their own family members.
In lieu of flowers, we suggest a donation to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Services will take place on Monday, May 13th at 10:30AM. The location of services will be weather dependent and finalized a few days prior to the service.