Christine Marie Elliott (nee Kjelgaard) of Spring Hill, Florida, formally of Marlborough, Massachusetts, passed away on Tuesday. August 6, 2024 at the age of 79.

May Her Memory Be a Blessing

After finishing college, Chris spent many years working as the lead secretary in a busy research lab at the New England Medical Center in Boston. In her "spare time," while the children were growing up, Chris typed several manuscripts for doctoral candidates at Harvard and other area universities, including a brilliant thesis on Mozart and an equally brilliant thesis on bioluminescence. Chris did this work at home, and  the candidates became part of our family while the work was being completed. They loved Chris because she was able to type, proofread and also edit the material. Finally, Chris typed the entire manuscript of primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall's seminal book about her work with chimpanzees, In The Shadow of Man. Jane is considered the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees. Jane sent Chris a note thanking her for her help in preparing In The Shadow of Man for publication. It is still widely read and respected around the world.

When the children were in school, Chris worked for fifteen years as the secretary for the principal in an elementary school in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

In 2005, Chris and I retired from our careers in education and moved to Timber Pines in Spring Hill, Florida.

Chris is survived by her beloved and devoted husband of 58 years, Gary  Elliott, and her four children, Mark (Jennifer) Elliott, of Wayland MA, Jonathan (Melissa) Elliott of Bellingham WA, Johanna (Mark) Harrahy of Westwood, New Jersey and Francis (Talia) Elliott of Canton MA.

Chris lived a beautiful life full of love for her family. She was guided by her  faith in every aspect of her life. She loved traveling around the world and had the opportunity to chaperone many fun-filled high school trips to Europe with her loving husband Gary.

Her legacy of peace, love and joy lives on through her eight grandchildren,Adam, Aiden. Abby, William, Edan, Grace, Isabel and Charlotte.

She is also survived by her sisters Mary Sheehy and Rita Fusaro, brother Joe Kjelgaard, and predeceased by her brother Paul Kjelgaard, and parents Winfield and Mary Kjelgaard.

Visitation will be held at the Quealy & Son Funeral Home on Friday, September 6, from 5 pm-7pm.  A funeral mass will be held Saturday, September 7, at St. Bridget Church 455 Plymouth Street, Abington MA at 10:30. Interment will follow at St. Patrick Cemetary, Rockland, MA.Flowers and/or contributions to St. Jude Children's Hospital are both welcome. http://stjude.org