Elaine G. Struck's Obituary
Elaine Gladys Struck, June 29, 1924
Elaine Gladys Struck passed away on Friday, July 1, 2016, a few days after celebrating her 92nd birthday. Her final days were at Friendship Villas Assisted Living in Tucson, AZ with hospice care provided by Casa de la Luz. Throughout her struggle with lung cancer she maintained a brave and positive attitude.
Elaine was born to Fred and Gladys Muralt in Minneapolis, MN. Music was a family tradition. She learned to play the piano and accompanied her violinist sister. She enjoyed playing throughout her life. She began her business career working high school summers at her father’s plumbing business as receptionist and bookkeeper. After high school, she worked for several area corporations before marrying Charles F. Struck in 1946. In their first few years he taught in a rural school, while she continued bookkeeping work in the St. Cloud area. They returned to Minneapolis, where he became an elementary school principal. She assumed primary responsibility for their growing family, her aging father. In the summers there were frequent trips to a northern lake cabin, which she maintained and loved. She had an outgoing and lively personality, and her home was a gathering place for the neighborhood, extended family and friends. It was the launch pad for memorable western trips that involved a small ‘wagon train’ of friends and their trailers. She was also active in a range of community organizations.
Her husband’s diagnosis of emphysema led to an early retirement and a move to Tucson in 1977. They were active there in trailer camping groups that toured the Arizona and northern Mexico. Charles died in 1993. Several years later Paul Davis came into her life, they married in 1999, and shared a wonderful companionship. After Paul’s death in 2010, she determined to live as independently as possible. She greatly enjoyed the social activities at the Fountains, and continued to be a central communications hub for her children, grandchildren and extended family, who she adored. Her lively sense of humor and feistiness, which she maintained in her final months, will be missed by all who knew her.
Elaine was preceded in death by her husbands, by her sister Jeanette and her brother Fred.
She is survived by her four children, Curtis Struck (Megan), Susan Knock, Cynthia McCann (Don), and Janet Tvedt (Kris), 12 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.
Elaine’s favorite charitable organizations included St. Jude Children’s Hospital, the local community foodbank and the American Cancer Society.
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