Elsa W.M. Wholey

Dear Elsa, Mom, Omi,

You taught us that you were born Else Wilhelmina Magdalena Thiessen, in Wohldorf Ohlstedt, in Hamburg, Germany, on February 27th, in 1937. (85 years and you only got more beautiful!) And you said many times that your parents were Ernst Thiessen and Katerina Mohr; your siblings Herman, Inge, and Hans Peter. You and Tim, Dad, “Papa,” had your three sons, Kerry, Mark, and Patrick. And the grandkids, Jack, Liam, Ella, Declan, Nuala, and Hope, will continue your legacy of mischief, fun, and love.

You also told us how you studied at university in Barcelona, Spain, in a school that allowed you to travel across Europe, and inspired your life-long desire to travel and see the whole world. You and Inge came to America from Germany in 1961, where you worked in Connecticut as an Au pair for two years, learning as much as you could (as you always loved to!); and then you taught contemporary and ballroom dancing at Arthur Murray Studios, in Philadelphia; you continued your work at Association Films, in New York City, where you met your husband Tim (Dad/“Papa”), and where you started your family. And when your third son Patrick was born, you moved to Narragansett, which became your home for Fifty Years. And no one knows better than us how no one loved Narragansett (or the beach!) more. But, though your home was Narragansett, that didn’t keep you from traveling to such remarkable places as the North Pole, the Taj Mahal, the Equator, Butan, Tibet, Venice, Africa, and Tazmania, sitting with (and on!) lions, climbing mountains, biking across lush landscapes, sailing vast tropical rivers. You also told us how you always loved to learn from these other cultures, cities, buildings, art and music, books and memories. You were never satisfied, and thus lived the greatest kind of life.

Narragansett was your home for Fifty Years, and a place you’d never leave. You worked as the Executive Secretary for the Town Manager for about twenty years, and helped make the town more beautiful, and what it is. And you didn’t just love the beach: you were the beach. You fed the seagulls (even when it was illegal), loved to sit with friends on the sand for all of the summer, and the early autumn; you always worked as you got older, with your children and grandchildren, to make the beach a part of all their lives, because you understood how much it could help someone be happy.

Elsa Wholey died on Monday, October 31st, 2022, and finished a story that’s impossible to tell in a few paragraphs. She maintained, through her entire life, a singular childlikeness (not childishness) that allowed her to appreciate nature and animals in an inimitable way; she was inspired with a peerless and wild wit (always a great joker); she respected everything she had: as a child of the war, Elsa grew to appreciate every item in her house, and was sure to maintain the quality of everything, in case it was (as it often was) needed later; she loved to feed the rabbits and birds around her house; she was a vehement and masterful gardener, covering the world with flowers as beautiful as her (well, almost); and she had a heart like Nobody. The love Elsa, Mom, Omi had for her family, and the generosity of her kindness, could not be said in words. By the end of her life, Elsa was the embodiment of Love itself. And as a woman who always loved stories, legends, lore, ghosts, gnomes, and witchcraft, it’s apt a storyteller like her, and a woman as special, died on such a special occasion.

Schlaf gut, Elsa, Mom, Omi. Vielen dank. Wir lieben dich.

Visiting hours for Elsa will be held Thursday, November 10, 2022 from 3pm to 6pm at Avery-Storti Funeral Home, 88 Columbia St., Wakefield, RI. All are welcome to a dinner afterwards at Arturo Joe's,140 Point Judith Rd, Narragansett, RI.

Elsa was a lifelong animal lover and supported many charities to that end. Please consider donating to the following GoFundMe campaign to provide funds to the South Kingstown Animal Shelter. If preferred donations can be made directly to the shelter.

SK Animal Shelter, 132 Asa Pond Road, Wakefield, RI 02879.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/elsa-omi-wholey-supporting-sk-animal-shelter?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1