CIPPARONE, ELAINE OLIVE (ELIZABETH) (nee FORSEY) November 17, 1939 – November 13, 2020.
Loving mom of Eugene and Lisa (Danny MacKay), proud grandma of Grace and Bella MacKay, cherished daughter of the late Harold and Ida Forsey, and beloved wife for 58 years of her husband Dr. Gene Cipparone. Adored sister-in-law to Louise and Paul Cipparone. Treasured lifelong friend to the late Sandy MacKay (Dan), Sandra Hubley (Norm), Carol Ann Smart (John), Tammy Kilborn (Bill), Lynn Smith, Lorraine Smith (the late Bruce) and the late Orpha Hughes (the late Harold). Proud teacher at Brookville Public School who made a lasting impression on all of her students.
Elaine loved to write “odes” to friends and family on their milestone occasions. This is our family’s ode to our beloved mom.
We thank you for the Campbellville homestead (1971), the condo in Port Charlotte, Florida (1977), the cottage in Muskoka (1987) and the time-share in Thornbury (1988). We thank you for every Thanksgiving, Easter and Christmas, but not for the paper hats you made us wear. We grew up with a kennel of Siberian Huskies, indoor and outdoor cats, ducks on the pond and a pony named Midnight. Every spring there were new puppies, kittens and ducklings to chase. We had snowmobiles and mini-bikes and dogsleds and skis, in exchange for trees to plant, lawns to mow, rocks to pick and gardens to weed.
We loved your Caesar salads, macs and giblets, hearty lasagna, ricotta cannelloni, ricotta pie and Italian meatballs. You even grated your own Romano cheese. Not bad for the mangiacake. And of course your legendary Tiropitas – they would take you days to make, a half hour to bake and then they’d be devoured in minutes. We are so grateful you made such a scene at Carmen’s Steakhouse back in the mid-60s until the chef finally relented and gave you his recipe. We promise your Tiropitas will live on! You introduced us to fine cheeses, Turtles, Eggs Benedict (always with peameal bacon) and oysters. “I’ll have another dozen” you’d say several times. “They make you horny” you said to your son when he was 13.
Some things cannot be unremembered. The dog shows, the Oscar parties, Princess Diana’s wedding, the Brookville Public School reunion. Those 2-3 weeks every year with the MacKay family at Edgewater Village BEFORE our fathers arrived to bring order to the fabulous chaos.
We thank you for having such eclectic musical taste. From Anne Murray to Blondie, from Frank Sinatra to Shania Twain. We deeply regret your country and western phase in the mid-1970s and are forever grateful to ABBA for snapping you out of it. You gave your son the “ talk” to Meatloaf’s Paradise by the Dashboard Light.
Your son thanks you for letting him go to New York, Paris and London when he was only 16, and backpacking through Europe at 21. Your daughter thanks you for her degrees at Western and Guelph and for her semester “studying” in the south of France. Your granddaughters thank you for all of the $50 bills and jewelry you would sneak them when their parents weren’t looking. Your son-in-law thanks you for being his other mother. All of us are grateful for your wise counsel and your enormously generous heart.
Everywhere you went someone would stop you and say “Are you Judi Dench”? “Why yes – yes I am” you would respond. To this day, scores of people in Halton and Wellington counties think they have Judi Dench’s autograph.
You were kind, generous, gregarious and fun. And loud. You had glamourous hats for every occasion. Many of them were loud. You wore bling and sequins better than any other septuagenarian we know. You were the life of the party and stubborn as a mule, a firecracker and a pistol. But no regrets. Ever. We love you with all our hearts and shall forever miss you. And we say that loud and proud.
In lieu of flowers or any gatherings, please raise a glass of white wine – whether it comes with a champagne cork or from a box – and toast all mothers. Life is never the same when they are gone.
Online donations and condolences can be made at www.gilbertmacintyreandson.com.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Elaine Cipparone Friday November 13th 2020..
Death notice for the town of: Guelph, Province: Ontario