RISE, Elaine T.

(Maiden Name: Ziolkowski)

Vistoso Funeral Home, Oro Valley, Arizona Elaine Rise January 17, 1944 - November 14, 2013 Elaine T. Rise, 69, of Saddlebrooke, AZ passed away peacefully on November 14, 2013 after a yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer. She was surrounded by her daughters and her loving husband, Geary. Elaine was born in Stevens Point, WI on January 17, 1944 to Joseph and Adeline (Morenek) Ziolkowski. She attended St. Stanislaus Catholic School and Marie High School. She married Gary Wandschneider and graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, with a degree in Speech Therapy. Together they had three daughters. Elaine spent many years as a teacher in Spokane WA and earned a Master’s Degree in early childhood education. One of her biggest joys was children and teaching. On January 1, 1992 she married Geary Rise in Coeur d'Alene, ID. To this union he brought his two daughters Jill and Julie, whom Elaine has always embraced as her own. Elaine had a kind and giving spirit and wore many hats, most of them sparkly. With Geary she volunteered in the Peace Corp, Habitat for Humanity, and 2 years teaching on a Navajo Reservation. Elaine knitted hats and shawls for Santa Catalina Catholic Church, and was always available to read to children. Elaine could always find the right book for any situation and many times created the books herself. Elaine moved to Saddlebrooke, AZ in 2008 and continued her volunteer work in the Saddlebrooke Community. She was active in tennis, square-dancing, knitting, ceramics, hiking, and biking. Elaine would try anything once and did so with passion, not to mention with the right shoes and earrings. Elaine is survived by her husband Geary Rise of Saddlebrook, AZ; children Jill (Jim) Meyers of Wake Forest, NC, Valeta (Martin) Sweet of Spokane, WA , Julie (Greg) Hayes of Dunedin, FL, Yvette (Mike) Himsl of Kalispell, MT, Eydiejo (Alexei) Kurchan of Wallingford, PA; grandchildren Nicole, Julian, Amber, Kenisha, Lauryl, Matthew, Maxim and Jocelyn; three great grand children and two more on the way. A memorial Mass will be held at Santa Catalina Catholic Church on Tuesday, November 19th, 2013 at 2:00 PM, Rosary service at 1:30 PM. The family requests, in lieu of flowers, to send donations to Pancreatic Cancer Research www.pancan.org or http://www.pancreatic.org/.
Posted by Sharla on November 19, 2013

Note: These obituaries are transcribed as published and are submitted by volunteers who have no connection to the families. They do not write the obituaries and have no further information other than what is posted within the obituaries. We do not do personal research. For this you would have to find a volunteer who does this or hire a professional researcher.