Elsie I. Gilchrist

On August 31, 2022, Elsie Irene (Gaug) Gilchrist, loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother passed away at home in Mogadore, Ohio surrounded by her children. Elsie was born December 11, 1929, at her family’s farm in Copley, Ohio. She was the seventh of nine children born to Hungarian immigrants Andrew and Katherine Gaug, and the last surviving sibling of her tight-knit family. Elsie excelled in her studies at Copley High School, and went on to work at City Hospital, Firestone, and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. She spent over three decades at Goodyear as an international credit specialist before retiring in 1987. On February 14, 1953, she married Clarence Duncan Gilchrist, Jr. They raised four children at their home in Mogadore.

 

As a child, Elsie loved iced skating on the Barberton Reservoir, and boasted she was the best picker of the kids on the farm. Later in life, she enjoyed massive gatherings with her siblings’ families, hosting all her loved ones in the backyard pool (a gallon of her homemade sweet tea always ready), and spending the day reading the Beacon-Journal while sipping coffee (especially the obituaries!). She tirelessly baked hordes of cookies at holiday time, and pickled peppers with anyone who'd help in the summertime. Elsie's Christian faith was marked by constant and humble service to those around her. Her family will remember her as an extremely generous, meek, petite lady on the outside, full of wit, spunk and dignity on the inside.

 

Elsie is preceded in death by siblings Elmer, Bill, Paul and Adam Gaug, Lillian King, Betty Cunningham, Pauline McCloskey and Irma Sir Louis; Clarence D. Gilchrist, Jr.; her nephews Kevin and John Gaug, and her great-granddaughter Brooke Chloe Adams. She is survived by her children: Linda Coleman (Ronald), Clarence III (Butch) Gilchrist, Brian Gilchrist and Sandra Titka (Donald); her brother-in-law, Vernon Sir Louis; several nieces and nephews; ten grandchildren: Brandee Gilmore (Brian), Amy Kabel (Thomas), Alicia Wilmoth (William), Chase Coleman (Cherish Winburn), Daniel Gilchrist (Stacy), Sarah Gilchrist (Matthew Elder), Chelsie Gilchrist (Robert Adams), Austin Gilchrist (Merrie Vierra), Katalin Gavitt, Christian Gavitt (Natalie) and the joy of all her joys, her great-grandchildren: Graham, Nolan and Emmet Gilmore; Mercer, Noah and Peter Kabel; Nola, William and Landen Wilmoth; Aubrieanah, Leeland, Seraphina, Urijah, Holdan, Kentzleigh, Anniston and Aslana Gilchrist; Emma, Bailey, Mia and Reese Adams; Elijah, Jayden and Colton Gavitt.

 

Viewing will be held from 10am-12pm, Saturday, September 10, 2022 at Hopkins-Lawver Funeral Home, 547 Canton Rd., Ellet, OH, with a funeral service following from 12pm-2pm. A short burial service will be held at Copley Cemetery. Flowers or a memorial gift to the Alzheimer's Association (alz.org) are equally welcome.