April 23, 1928 - October 21, 2020
Elaine Kortzeborn died peacefully in Stockton, California, at 92 years of age. Near the end, as she was experiencing dementia, she took comfort in “seeing” her parents, Lois and PF Domeny, and her husband, Jack Kortzeborn.
Born in Gillette, Wyoming in 1928, Elaine moved, with her family, to Longmont, Colorado and then to Oakland, California. She graduated from Golden Gate Academy in Berkeley, California and attended Pacific Union College in Angwin, California and La Sierra College in La Sierra, California.
She met her husband, Jack (a medical student at the time), on a blind date that foreshadowed their life to come when, after having worked a double hospital shift, he fell asleep during dinner. She became accustomed to taking up the slack whenever he dozed off during parties, meetings, meals, and events.
After her family moved to Stockton, California in 1962, Elaine became a fixture in her church and other social circles, making and maintaining decades-long connections that exist to this day. She was a homemaker for her husband and children and an active volunteer in the community. She served as one of the first female members of her church board and her daughters’ school’s board, taking a particular interest in education. In her last volunteer role, when she was in her 80s, she tutored primary school children in math.
Elaine was able to remain proudly independent in her own home until she was 90 years of age, even returning there after cancer treatment and surgery at age 86 and surgery/rehab for a hip fracture at age 88. The second hip fracture, at age 90, necessitated a move to assisted living and then her declining mental status prompted a further move into memory care, where she spent the last year of her life. COVID-19 robbed her family of six months of time with her, as her facility, in order to protect its residents, closed its doors to all but essential workers when the pandemic took hold in March. Only her entry into hospice care provided her loved ones with a final opportunity to spend time with her during the last three weeks of her life.
During the time that Elaine was isolated from her family, the care and support provided by the essential workers in her facility gave great comfort to her and also to those who worried about her and loved her from a distance. The debt of gratitude we all owe to front-line workers, especially those caring for our elders in the face of this terrible pandemic and sometimes at great personal cost, is one that we will never be able to repay.
Elaine is survived by her sister, Dorothy Davis, and her daughters, Karen Irwin (m. James Irwin) and Catherine Kortzeborn. It’s an impossible task to completely characterize and identify her family of affinity, which encompasses extended family on both sides (brothers-in-law, cousins, nieces, nephews, great and great-great nieces and nephews) as well as a large “adopted” contingent (sons and daughters-in-law, grandchildren, and great-grandsons), her church family, her daughters’ friends, and many others she picked up along the way. People naturally gravitated to her big smile and big heart and her and Jack’s home was open to all.
Her loss is also greatly felt by her beloved cat, Maisie, who was her constant companion and stout-hearted guard up to the moment of her death.
Elaine’s lasting legacy will be in the people of all ages whose lives she touched and who will remember her humor, kindness, opinions, and smile long after she is gone.
In lieu of flowers, her family would welcome donations to two philanthropic organizations that meant a great deal to her, the Carter Center (www.cartercenter.org) and the ASPCA (www.aspca.org).
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Cherokee Memorial is honored to serve the Kortzeborn family.