Elinor Groban Obituary

Groban, Elinor ACTIVIST lifelong Chicago area resident and longtime Glencoe resident Elinor Groban, 87, died Wednesday, October 29, 2003, at her home at 1185 Terrace Court. She was born December 31, 1915, in Chicago, the eldest daughter of Paul and Leah Mendelsohn. Elinor graduated from John Marshall High School in 1934 and from the University of Chicago in 1938. A longtime political activist who once was arrested for leafleting to protest the killing of strikers during the Republic Steel strike, Elinor met her husband when she was flung into his arms at a dance sponsored by the Young People's Socialist League. Elinor went on to marry Milton Groban December 19, 1942 in Houston, Texas. Milton, a navigator in the U.S. Army Air Corps, named a B-17 bomber the "Little Ellie" in her honor. The plane didn't survive the war, be the marriage thrived. Their son Lee David Groban was born in 1947, and daughter Deborah Susan Groban was born in 1951. The family lived on the south side of Chicago in Marionette Manor where they made many lifelong friends. Elinor chaired the League of Women voters there and was a political activist through the Independent Voters of Illinois. She was an accomplished musician and organized long-standing book clubs in both the Manor and Glencoe. In 1964 she completed her masters in Social Service Administration which led to her career in family counseling. The Grobans moved to Glencoe, a suburb north of Chicago, in 1971. From 1972 to her retirement in 1985 Elinor worked at Family Service of South Lake County. Milt and Elinor would spend three months a year in Pompano Beach, Florida. In 1992 Milt and Elinor were honored at a 50th wedding anniversary celebration in Florida. Elinor is survived by her son Lee of Evanston, IL, daughter Deborah Groban Olson (Richard) of Grosse Pointe Park, MI, grandchildren Daniel, Joshua and Elizabeth Olson, sister Jean Grossman of Somers, New York, many other relatives. She was preceded in death her husband Milton, and brother Sheldon. A Memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, November 28 at Congregation Beth Or, 2075 Deerfield Rd., Deerfield, IL, 847-945-0477. The family welcomes visitors after 3 p.m. through November 3 at 1185 Terrace Ct., Glencoe, IL. Her ashes willl be interred at the national cemetery in Joliet, Illinois and some will be released over two of her favorite natural locations, Lake Michigan and Circle Pines Center. Donations in her memory can be made to the Capital Ownership Group at KSU Foundation/COG, Ohio Employee Ownership Center, 309 Franklin, Kent, OH, 44242, Attn: Dan Bell, or to the Circle Pines Center Endowment Fund, 8650 Mullen Road, Delton, MI, 49046 or to a charity of your choice.