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- Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI)
December 4, 2011
BERKELEY, Calif. - Marjorie Atkins Elliott died in her sleep on Nov. 5, 2011, at the age of 97. She was living in a skilled nursing facility in Berkeley, Calif.
Marjorie was born in Amherst, Mass., on Feb. 11, 1914, the daughter of William H. and Naomi Atkins. She received her B.A. from Wheaton College, Mass., and an M.A. from Cornell University. She met F. Irvine Elliott of Rix Mills, Ohio, at Cornell, and they married in 1941, together raising three children. Marjorie taught school for several years, including an early stint at an Appalachian boys' school, and led in the establishment of a kindergarten in Storrs, Conn., in 1950, when Irvine was chair of the Department of Animal Industries at the University of Connecticut. Following a brief residence in North Carolina, the family moved to Monona, Wis., in 1953, where they lived for more than 30 years. Their social life centered around the Lake Edge Congregational United Church of Christ.
Marjorie was a freelance writer, an environmentalist, an advocate for historical preservation and a political presence in her local community. Musically trained, she was a violinist with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, had one anthem published for use in UCC churches, and sang in the church choir for 50 years. She was published in several national and local periodicals and for several years wrote a weekly column, "On the Other Hand", for the Monona Community Herald. In 1968 she won the Wisconsin Regional Writers Association's Jade Ring for poetry and received first place in the AAUW contest for a children's story. One of her poems was included in the Wisconsin Poetry Anthology for 1981. A book of her poetry, Collected Poems, was printed in 2002.
Marjorie edited and published two collections of historical writings on the Amherst area, Leave the Light Burning and North of Norwottuck. She headed up a historical society in Monona which saved a building that later became the Dean House, and she also led the establishment of the Edna Taylor Conservancy in Madison. Marjorie was the first woman to be elected alderman for the Monona Council, and she was also the first woman to be named "Outstanding Citizen of Monona", in 1976. She was on the board of the Dane County Historical Society and belonged to the Madison Branch of the National League of American Penwomen, serving as its branch president.
In 1986, following Irv's retirement as vice president of the American Breeders Service (ABS), Marjorie and Irvine moved to South Amherst, Mass., to reside on the same street where Marjorie had lived as a girl. Like her family of origin, they became active members of the South Congregational United Church of Christ.
Marjorie was predeceased by Irvine in 1994; as well as by her two brothers, Howard and Bill Atkins.
She is survived by her son, Kirk Elliott; and his partner, Jane Smith, of Madison; by her daughter, Karen Elliott of Berkeley, Calif.; and by her daughter, Kathleen (Kathy) King and her husband, Joe, of Danville, Va.; as well as by five grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.
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1914 - 2011 (97 years)
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