Elaine M. Pulaski, 94, of Milan, OH, a spirited, fun-loving soul, a beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and aunt, and an outgoing and nurturing friend to everyone she met, peacefully passed into eternal life on Tuesday, September 7, 2021, in Norwalk, OH.
Born on April 19, 1927, in Cleveland, OH, to the late Clarence and Betty Berkowitz Gruenberg, Elaine was the younger of two daughters. She grew up in Cleveland, during the Great Depression, and recalled the family not being able to afford toys for her to play with. Instead, as a young girl, Elaine spent her summers with her grandmother and her dog, Patsy, at the family’s cottage on the Huron River near Huron, OH. She entertained herself with a wind-up record player, on which she would listen to Al Jolson records, and by fishing in the river. On weekends, the cottage was the site where family and friends would be entertained, perhaps giving rise to the social vivaciousness that Elaine later exhibited in her adult life. As a teen, Elaine attended John Hay High School in Cleveland, OH. She left school after the 9th grade to work for Richman Brothers Company, where she was employed for a decade as a suit presser in the firm’s manufacturing facility.
On June 29, 1946, in Cleveland, OH, Elaine married her childhood sweetheart, Elmer Robert Pulaski, a World War II Navy veteran who had just returned from serving in the Pacific. Elaine always proudly proclaimed that the girls in her neighborhood enviously stated that “She got Elmer”. The couple eventually settled in Garfield Heights, OH, where they lived for over 52 years, and were blessed with four children. Elaine served a number of years as a Brownie leader when her daughters were members of the local troop. Elaine also took her children to visit the family cottage in Huron and to Cedar Point to swim at the beach on Lake Erie, as well as farther afield for vacations in Cape Cod, Mammoth Caves, Niagara Falls, and New York City, Disney World & Cooperstown, NY.
To help make ends meet, Elaine took in boarders at the home in Garfield Heights, who became like family to her. One widowered border with two sons told her that she provided the “best home my boys have ever had”. Those boys wrote her well into their adult lives understanding & appreciating what she provided for them. In addition, Elaine would babysit several neighborhood kids during summer break while their parents worked. She never met a child she didn’t instantly love.
Later, Elaine co-owned and operated a number of bars in the Cleveland area, including Randy’s Bar & Grill in downtown Bedford, OH, The Playmates in Warrensville Heights, OH, and The Pewter Mug in Brecksville, OH. In 1975, she sold her interest in these establishments but had already become close friends with many of her employees and patrons who would visit her & Elmer at their house decades after the businesses sold. Eventually, she went to work at the Maple Grove Inn in Maple Heights followed by Adams Manufacturing in Garfield Heights, from which she retired in 1989, allowing her to spend more time visiting her out-of-state children and grandchildren. In 2001, Elaine relocated with Elmer to Milan, OH, to live with her youngest son and his family near the cottage where she spent so much time as a child. Her only request is that wherever they moved to, that it be near the cottage.
Throughout her life, Elaine was a devout Christian and a church member in local congregations wherever she lived, including Woodland Hills Union Church in Cleveland, OH, Hathaway United Methodist Church in Garfield Heights, OH, and Edison Memorial United Methodist Church in Milan, OH. She was a charitable soul, who didn’t always have much, but always had a few dollars to give to various causes, such as organizations that serve veterans, or the Salvation Army kettle at Christmas, or the Girl Scouts cookie table, or her church’s giving tree. She looked at those less fortunate and always stated “But for the grace of God, there go I”.
But it is the joy and spunk with which Elaine lived her life for which she will be most remembered. Elaine loved having a good time and making others laugh. And everyone laughed because she was hilarious. Always the “life of the party” a real “Good Time Charlie”. Elaine never felt or acted her age, often stating “She could have fun on an empty bus”, and she truly could. Adventurous by nature, she frequently entertained her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren by seeking out opportunities to visit amusement parks like Cedar Point (where she still ventured upon the Giant Swing ride at 86 years old) but she did not need to travel to have fun, she could bring the fun home as a trunk-load of fireworks for her kids and grandkids to shoot off, and the bigger, the better. Elaine would also always be up to a visit with family and friends to any nearby bar, where she would refresh herself with a beer, a glass of wine, or a CC and soda (with a lemon twist).
She loved playing cards with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, teaching them how to play penny Poker and Kings-in-the-Corner. And when that action wasn’t “live” enough for her, she loved to go to the casinos and play the slots. Elaine played the Lottery every day, without fail. Everyone at her favorite local store, where she’d go daily to buy her scratch-off tickets and her copy of that day’s Cleveland Plain Dealer, knew her intimately.
Elaine was also a tremendous cook. Her kitchen always smelled wonderful as there was always something good on the stove or in the oven like her homemade chicken and beef soups, chicken paprikash, pork cutlets, potato pancakes, German meatballs, or a pot of chili to name a few. She was a talented baker often preparing pineapple squares, cinnamon rolls, puff pastries, black raspberry tarts or her mahogany chiffon cake as part of the non-holiday selection, but when the Holidays came, she went above and beyond to treat everyone around her baking multiple batches of the many varieties of Christmas cookies for which she was famous. Her specialties included chocolate crinkle cookies, nut rolls, and bow tie cookies (Hungarian Csoreges). She also always had a candy bowl disguised to be for “the kids” but it was for herself and she just loved her junk food and hated anything healthy famously stating the only “beans” she would eat were jellybeans. In her final years, the staff at the nursing home grew to adore her as well. Elaine told them routinely that she was on a special diet consisting of the five “C’s”; Cookies, Candy, Cake and Canadian Club.
Elaine was full of life and full of love. She would bask in even the smallest of moments. She was a warm-hearted person, just naturally drawn to others, who were, in turn, drawn to her. She lived her irrepressible, happy-go-lucky life according to her own words often shared with others; “We’re not here for a short time. We’re here for a good time!”
Elaine spent 94 blessed years on this Earth, which is certainly not a short time, and she most assuredly had a good time. Those of us fortunate enough to be around her knew her primary mission in this life was simply to bring joy to others and we can now exclaim “Mission Accomplished”! She will be painfully missed by all who knew and loved her, and to know her, indeed, was to love her.
Elaine is preceded in death by her beloved husband of 62 years, Elmer Pulaski in 2008, daughter Cynthia Pulaski in 2013, and sister Betty Altomondo in 2008. Memories of Elaine’s vibrant zest for life will be forever cherished by her surviving children: Karen (Jim) Werner of Huron, OH, Norman Pulaski of Garfield Heights, OH, and David (Sarah) Pulaski of Milan, OH; and adopted son John Fiorentini of Willowick, Son-in-law David Chesler of Charlottesville, VA, 10 grandchildren: Sarah (Jay) Anderson of Norwalk, OH, Jennie (Emilio) Rabelo of Crozet, VA, Amanda (Lester) Chesler-Poole of Williamsburg, VA, Justin (Daphne) Pulaski of Lake Havasu City, AZ, Jessica (Marcus) Albright of Elmore, OH, Joseph (Kaila) Pulaski of Malta, NY, Matthew (Sydney) Pulaski of Parma, OH, Noah Pulaski of Milan, OH, Jason (Ashley) Fiorentini of Port Orchard, WA, and Julie Fiorentini of Willowick, OH;
14 great-grandchildren: Jamie Anderson, Aidan Anderson, Mary Virginia Anderson, Grace Anderson, Grayson Chesler-Poole, Warren Chesler-Poole, Felix Rabelo, Evan Pulaski, Justin David Pulaski, Grace Pulaski, Braiden Pulaski, Braelyn Pulaski, Layla Albright & Elodie Elaine Pulaski; Nieces Cheryl Teresi of Mayfield Heights, OH and Mary Jane Lightner of Anaheim, California; nephew Bobby Altomondo of Las Vegas, NV;grandnephew Adam Teresi of Chicago, IL and numerous other grandnieces and grandnephew(s).
A private, family service in celebration of Elaine’s life and spirit was held at Edison Memorial United Methodist Church in Milan, OH, on Tuesday, September 14, 2021.
