Obituary of Norma Elaine Gorski

Elaine H Gorski, 62 yrs, passed from this world in the early morning of March 20th, 2017 in the comfort of her home. Elaine, the oldest child of a military couple, was born in England on March 18th, 1955 before the family was transferred stateside. Her mother, Norma, re-married Billy Lassiter after moving back to Sunbury, in Gates County, NC. There Elaine grew up on a farm surrounded by her brother, Tony, sisters Susan and Melanie as well as aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. Elaine graduated from Gates County High School in May, 1973 where she was an award winning singer and a member of the NC Shrine Bowl cheerleading squad. That fall she enrolled at UNC-CH where she earned a BA in psychology- while an undergrad at Carolina, Elaine worked as a counselor for abused children and served as a manager for the UNC wrestling team. Within a year of graduating from UNC Elaine married Jeff Gorski and they began an adventuresome relationship together that spanned over 40 years. Her tireless support of Jeff as both an athlete and developing coach made Elaine a great friend to many of the world's greatest athletes- Olympic champions are listed among the guests who have broken bread at our table and Elaine always took extra time to make something special for those guests. Elaine's professional career was usually filled with numbers; from traffic manager at WCHL to tracking and managing research grants at Duke University, the job she had when an auto accident rendered her a quadriplegic who exceeded what professional s predicted for her with her level of injury and was deeply involved with the passing of an expansive consumer rights protection law in NC in 2009. In recent years Elaine has become very active politically/socially and her wish was, in lieu of flowers or food, donations be made to groups supporting LBGT rights, local food banks/shelters, voting rights and quality accessible health care. Elaine is survived by her husband, Jeff, daughters Ashlee and Michelle, son-in-law Mike Wright, daughter-in-law Trish O'Malley as well as her mother, Norma, sisters Melanie and Susan as well as Susan's children Jessica and Ben. A private memorial will be held for Elaine later this month. Walker's Funeral Home of Chapel Hill is honored to serve the Gorski family. Online condolences may be offered at www.walkersfuneralservice.com.