Obituary for Elaine Emily Koncsol Young
On Good Friday, April 7, 2023 Elaine Koncsol Young, devoted wife and mother, passed away at the age of 86 after a diagnosis of late stage pancreatic cancer only 2 months before.
Elaine was born to Raymond Koncsol and Mary Waszo Koncsol on August 5, 1936 in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was the oldest of 5 children.
After graduating high school, Elaine attended Pennsylvania State University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. She then went on to earn a Master of Arts in Administration (Human Relations) at Ohio University. While at Ohio University, Elaine met her husband David Allan Young. They were married on January 27, 1962.
Elaine moved with her husband to North Dakota where David started his career in higher education, and they had twin girls Nina and Nora. After her third daughter Susan was born, Elaine moved with her family to Geneseo, New York. In Geneseo she was very active in the community, working for the municipal manager, as well as holding leadership positions on Geneseo’s Planning Board, Garden Club, Association for the Preservation of Geneseo, the Girl Scouts Regional Council, and the Genesee Valley Aquatic Club, to name just a few. She was also a member of the local Genesee Valley Hunt (organized fox hunting). In 1980, a dream of Elaine’s came true when her oldest-of-twin daughters, Nina, joined her on a fox hunt. January 1981 found her moving with David and their three daughters from Geneseo, N.Y. to Salem, Oregon.
Elaine had a passion for the arts. In Salem she held numerous professional and community positions in the arts, including board member for the Oregon Symphony, the Oregon Alliance for Arts Education, and member of the Salem Art, and Mission Mill Museum Associations. These are only a few of the things Elaine did for the art community of Salem and more generally for the state of Oregon. In 1990 she was elected to a national arts board, in 1995 the YWCA named her a Woman of Achievements, and in 1997 the Oregon Coast Art Council named her an Arts Hero. Along with lengthy service with Oregon Advocates for the Arts, Elaine was passionate about expanding career and life options for women. In 1995 she started her own business with 3 other partners, called NELA Management Group.
Elaine was a loving, supportive, and enthusiastic mother and wife. She loved raising her children in the small village of Geneseo. And though picking up roots from Geneseo was hard for her, she supported David with his career move. When she wasn’t busy in her community, she was watching her daughters swim in local swim meets. She loved playing cards with her daughters, too and she even played chess with David, which none of her daughters ever dared. What Elaine probably loved the most was spending holidays with her family at the Oregon coast, a tradition that started when the family first moved to Oregon. She was brilliant, gentle, and generous, providing lessons in substance and spirit to all those she met. As my dad once wrote about her, in a poem: “We are all in orbit around her, that luminescence force, felt though unseen.”
Elaine was preceded in death by her mother and father, her husband David, and siblings Raymond and Judy. She is survived by her daughters Nina, Nora, and Susan, her grandson Ian, and her sisters Marian and Janet.
Elaine was born to Raymond Koncsol and Mary Waszo Koncsol on August 5, 1936 in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was the oldest of 5 children.
After graduating high school, Elaine attended Pennsylvania State University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. She then went on to earn a Master of Arts in Administration (Human Relations) at Ohio University. While at Ohio University, Elaine met her husband David Allan Young. They were married on January 27, 1962.
Elaine moved with her husband to North Dakota where David started his career in higher education, and they had twin girls Nina and Nora. After her third daughter Susan was born, Elaine moved with her family to Geneseo, New York. In Geneseo she was very active in the community, working for the municipal manager, as well as holding leadership positions on Geneseo’s Planning Board, Garden Club, Association for the Preservation of Geneseo, the Girl Scouts Regional Council, and the Genesee Valley Aquatic Club, to name just a few. She was also a member of the local Genesee Valley Hunt (organized fox hunting). In 1980, a dream of Elaine’s came true when her oldest-of-twin daughters, Nina, joined her on a fox hunt. January 1981 found her moving with David and their three daughters from Geneseo, N.Y. to Salem, Oregon.
Elaine had a passion for the arts. In Salem she held numerous professional and community positions in the arts, including board member for the Oregon Symphony, the Oregon Alliance for Arts Education, and member of the Salem Art, and Mission Mill Museum Associations. These are only a few of the things Elaine did for the art community of Salem and more generally for the state of Oregon. In 1990 she was elected to a national arts board, in 1995 the YWCA named her a Woman of Achievements, and in 1997 the Oregon Coast Art Council named her an Arts Hero. Along with lengthy service with Oregon Advocates for the Arts, Elaine was passionate about expanding career and life options for women. In 1995 she started her own business with 3 other partners, called NELA Management Group.
Elaine was a loving, supportive, and enthusiastic mother and wife. She loved raising her children in the small village of Geneseo. And though picking up roots from Geneseo was hard for her, she supported David with his career move. When she wasn’t busy in her community, she was watching her daughters swim in local swim meets. She loved playing cards with her daughters, too and she even played chess with David, which none of her daughters ever dared. What Elaine probably loved the most was spending holidays with her family at the Oregon coast, a tradition that started when the family first moved to Oregon. She was brilliant, gentle, and generous, providing lessons in substance and spirit to all those she met. As my dad once wrote about her, in a poem: “We are all in orbit around her, that luminescence force, felt though unseen.”
Elaine was preceded in death by her mother and father, her husband David, and siblings Raymond and Judy. She is survived by her daughters Nina, Nora, and Susan, her grandson Ian, and her sisters Marian and Janet.