Obituary of Elaine O Navias

Elaine Olivia Navias, 82, of Honeoye Falls, NY, died unexpectedly on June 27, 2011, in Thompson Hospital in Canandaigua. A Memorial Service will be held August 20th at 2:00 PM at Farmington Friends Church, 187 County Rd. 8 in Farmington, NY. Elaine was born to Olivia Ribstein Morse and George Morse on January 1, 1929, in Rochester, NY. As a child, she studied at the Eastman School of Music. The family spent summers at the Chautauqua Institute in Chautauqua, NY, where Elaine soloed on the marimba with the symphony orchestra while still in grade school. In 1951, she received her BA in Music from Radcliffe College. That summer, she married Robert A. Navias of Schenectady, NY. The couple moved to State College, PA, then spent 5 years in Utah and Colorado. In 1958, the family moved to the Boston, MA area. Her teenage daughters found it amusing that their mother learned to drive the same year as her daughters, while she was earning an MA in English from Simmons College in Boston. The summer of 1970, the family moved to Honeoye Falls, NY. Elaine's professional career spanned 60 years. She taught in the fields of music, religious education, and college-level English. She played church organ and led church choirs from Colorado to Massachusetts and taught piano at Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA, South End Music Center in Boston, MA, and out of her home. She served as the Religious Education Director of the First Unitarian Church, Cambridge, MA, and taught at Lesley College, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Monroe Community College. In retirement, Elaine worked during the summers as a reporter for the Chautaqua Daily and by necessity learned to use a computer. Although retired from full-time teaching, she continued to tutor students in English Composition at MCC until the end of the semester a few weeks before her death. Elaine was a long-time Quaker and a member of Farmington Friends Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, where she led an adult study group and served on every committee in the church at one time or another. She was an active member of the Jane Austin Society, the Harvard-Radcliffe Club of Rochester, and the Rochester chapter of the American Association of University Women. She was a long-time supporter of the Off-Monroe Players, a Rochester theater group. Survivors include her four children, Rebecca Navias Atwood (Barry Atwood) of Timberville, VA; Susanna Perkins (Mark Perkins) of Winter Park, FL; Geoffrey Navias (Jennifer Hamlin-Navias) of Cazenovia, NY; and Mathilda Navias (Dan Bell) of Tiffin, OH. She is also survived by her 14 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren, her brothers, John Morse of Pendleton, SC and Paul Morse of High Point, NC; and her brother-in-law, Eugene B. Navias of Boston, MA. Her grandson, Hugh Sullivan, lived with her while attending college for the past four years. Elaine is fondly remembered for her wonderful laugh, her great smile, and her love of family. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Farmington Friends Church (187 County Rd. 8, Farmington, NY 14425-7026), the Off-Monroe Players (60 Bittner Street Rochester, NY 14604-1124), or Mendon Public Library (15 Monroe Street, Honeoye Falls, NY 14472-1019). For more information, call Farmington Friends Church at (315) 986-5559.