Elaine Claire Soukup, 78, passed away on Monday, May 31, 2021 at the Oak Ridge Manor in Brownwood, Texas.
Elaine was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of the late Clarence and Norma (Bartos) Soukup of Dillonvale, Ohio. Elaine graduated from Dillonvale High School and Kent State University. She began her career teaching home economics in the Cadiz and Indian Creek School Districts in Ohio. She loved teaching young people how to cook, sew, and manage their money, plus many of the other skills they would need to start their lives as adults. Throughout her childhood and youth, and also while teaching, Elaine helped in her parents’ small home-town bakery. She always commented that her dad made the best pastries, breads, and pies, and that she wished she could bake as well as he did. If that is true, then her dad must have been a master baker, as Elaine was an excellent one herself. Elaine always made baked goods as Christmas presents for all of her friends during the holidays.
Elaine relocated to Texas in 1980 to accept a position with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service as the Brown County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences, a position she held until her retirement in 2000. As Extension Agent, Elaine worked with 4-H youth, the Extension Education Clubs, and with many civic organizations. She and Jim Rodgers were instrumental in forming a group of civic leaders to acquire funding and create the Family Service Center. Elaine loved the teaching aspect of her job, whether helping the youth with their many 4-H projects, or presenting educational programs to the Extension Clubs, the luncheon programs at local schools, Kohler and 3-M, and to the public. Elaine was in for a food culture shock when she moved to Texas. She said she had never heard of chicken fried steak with white gravy (who eats white gravy?), Tex-Mex, jalapenos (never got her feet wet with the hot stuff), cheesy grits, or any other southern cuisine. Even though she never gave up some of her northern food, she came to love everything southern.
After retirement, Elaine became an avid gardener where her yard was always blooming and freshly manicured. She was devoted to her two dogs, Pansy and Greta. Elaine loved the cooking channel on TV, where she would try out new recipes for friends at her many noon day luncheons. Elaine moved to the Chatfield Assisted Living when her health began to decline.
Elaine is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Gary and Peggy Soukup, and niece Megan, all of Pennsylvania, and her dear friend and husband, Beverly and Craig Sullivan and their family.
Private burial will be held at the Center Cemetery in Lometa, Texas, at a later date. Services entrusted to Heritage Funeral Home, Davis-Morris Chapel.