(Bill) Elliott

Most people reading this blog wouldn’t know Elliott Walters, but I want to tell you a bit about him.  Elliott died last week and it has been very sad for our family.  He was a remarkable man who will continue to live in our memory. 

Elliott came into our family eight years ago when he began dating Elizabeth’s mom, Christine.  We knew a few things fairly quickly about this man.  We knew that he had had a wonderful first marriage and had lovingly cared for his wife for many years as she suffered Alzheimer’s at the end of her life.  Together, they created a wonderful, warm family with four kids and many grandkids, most of them still in the Seattle area.  Elliott had served in the Korean War through the Marines and was a retired insurance man.  Though an older man at 79 when he met Christine, we could tell that Elliott had plenty of life and love to give.  

The more we got to know him, the more we realized that Elliott was a man of many irrepressible passions.  One standout interest was with trains.  Our eyes were like saucers stepping into the train room of his house for the first time.   Not many people would modify their home to accommodate train tracks running in and out of the walls, but Elliott did!  He had put together a room with mountains, sky, lakes, and towns crisscrossed by tracks.  And all to perfect scale!  With great pride, he showed us the replica trains that he had collected and could send them on their way with a central controller with coordinated Johnny Cash music and puffs of smoke from the stacks.  My sense was that his greatest pleasure was sharing his love of trains with many kids that were invited to take it all in. 

Elliott’s passion wasn’t solely with trains.  Flags anyone?  Elliott had a large flagpole in the front of his house and he faithfully ran different flags up and down every day to mark special days on the calendar.  I’m not sure how many flags he owned and stored by hanging on pegs in his front hallway, but the number is impressive.  

How about squash or tennis?  Elliott was quite the athlete winning numerous squash trophies as a younger man.  He kept up his racket sport passion faithfully playing tennis several times a week and making many friends along the way.  Not many octogenarians have asked me if I wanted to hit around.  Very impressive.

Elliott was very active in his church.  He was particularly excited when “Nigerian Sunday” rolled around and the Nigerian congregants that shared the building would combine services with his.  He had a genuine faith in God and would insist on giving thanks for meals with the traditional Episcopalian grace:  “Lord, for what we are about to receive, make us truly grateful”.   And he was indeed truly grateful for all he had. 

He loved politics and reading books on history.  I didn’t always agree with Elliott in discussing various topics, but I could count on him having an opinion that, again, he was passionate about.  He loved to host parties and he was delighted to have friends and family around him.  He and Christine did an amazing job with various gatherings throughout the year:  birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, or just because.  Only Elliott could be seized with the idea to have an entire pig roasted and served up on their back patio.  

The greatest passion in Elliott’s life was his family.  It was love at first meeting for Elliott and Christine at the opera guild small group.  When you’re 79 years old, you don’t mess around with a long courtship and he made plain that he was looking to marry Christine on the second or third date.  We’re so glad they did go on to get married.  They shared a wonderful marriage and friendship and it seems that they were partnered for longer than the eight years they knew each other. 

We could see the quality and depth of his relationships with his biological family, but we were so blessed that he invested deeply in our family as well.  He absolutely LOVED our boys.  At first, we maintained a formal title of “Mr. Elliott”, but this title didn’t seem appropriate, as he loved Liam and Micah as his own grandsons.  “Grandpa” and Christine would regularly take the boys on adventures as they explored La Conner (the site of their once-monthly dog grooming sessions) and everywhere in between.   Over meals, Elliott demonstrated his passion for the boys as he would pepper them with questions about their lives.  He genuinely cared about what they had to say and would shush any adult who tried to speak on their behalf!  Not many 6 or 10 year olds have an adult in their lives that really wants to know what they think about something.  He would try to get to the boys’ sports events and school plays.  Not many men his age could be as playful and loving as he was with such young children. 

The same interest he took in the boys is the same interest he took in Elizabeth and me.  When I shared my excitement in looking at birds here in Malawi, Elliott immediately bought and sent a book on African bird watching.  He regularly bought us books that he thought might be interesting to read or would cut out articles to share.  He was generous and kind.  He was able to affirm me and encourage me in ways that are unique from an older man to a younger man.  He showed me so much about the kind of life I want to live, not just when I get to be 80, but now! 

Thank you, Elliott.  You lived an amazing life.  You loved and served well.  You have your reward, but we will all miss you.