Obituary: Elaine A. Williams, 79, of Southbury

Elaine A. Williams, 79, a Monastic Scholar of the Abbey of Regina Laudis, Bethlehem, CT, died at Waterbury Hospital, Sunday, February 14, 2016. Born in Brooklyn, NY, she was a 1954 graduate of Franklin K. Lane High School. In 1957, she entered the Passionist Sisters of Bristol, Rhode Island and was always deeply grateful for the time she spent with them.

An Executive Secretary by profession, Elaine was proud of her work in that capacity in the West Wing of the White House during the Nixon Administration and subsequently with the Rockefeller Foundation, and later the Coudert Brothers, in New York.

In 1988, she moved to Heritage Village in Southbury and entered into close relationship with the Abbey of Regina Laudis, first as an Oblate, volunteering at the Monastic Art Shop, the bee garden, and wherever she could be of service.

In 2010, she became a Monastic Scholar, being given the name “Elaine Therese”, after her beloved St. Therese of Lisieux, thus integrating her contemplative gift with her professional expertise as secretary, offered in service to the Monastic Community.

Calling hours will be Wednesday, February 17, from 4 to 7 p.m. and her funeral Mass will be Thursday, February 18, at 10 a.m., both at Sacred Heart Church, 910 Main St. South, Southbury, CT. Burial will be at Sacred Heart Cemetery, Rte. 6, Southbury following the Mass, weather permitting. Arrangements by Carpino Funeral Home, Southbury.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the New Horizon Renovation Project would be gratefully received by the Abbey of Regina Laudis, 273 Flanders Road, Bethlehem, CT 06751, attention New Horizons, or online at abbeyofreginalaudis.com.