Elaine Marie Tolnitch Lozier

Elaine Lozier died Sunday, January 17, 2021 of complications from lymphedema. She is survived by our son and daughter-in-law Danny Lozier and Sonali Motha, and grandson Kai Motha-Lozier, of the Columbia Heights neighborhood of DC, and by her sister Susan Schmalz of University City, MO (near St. Louis).

Elaine’s parents were John Tolnitch (Rome, NY, 1910) and Elsie Lovelock (East Orange, NJ, 1908). Susan and James Schmalz have children Timothy of University City and Naomi of Indianapolis. Tragically, a second son, Steven, died as a teenager. Timothy and Emily Schmalz have two children, Cara and Milo. Naomi is single and engaged to be married.

A memorial service and interment will take place at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Heathsville, VA. These are being deferred until the pandemic eases. Anyone wishing to receive personal notification of the date, when set, or an expanded version of this document, may send email to [email protected].

Elaine and I married on June 6, 1966 in Alexandria, VA. We lived a few years there and in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of DC before moving permanently to the Palisades neighborhood of DC.

Elaine had outstanding personal qualities and impressive accomplishments. Her patience and caring for others extended far beyond the immediate family but let me begin with Danny. Like many young people, Danny experienced typical difficulties growing up. Elaine worked with him, creatively and patiently, to help him through these times. When it came time to choose a secondary school, none of the ones Elaine suggested attracted him until they visited Edmund Burke School. Danny came out excited: “I want to go here!” He formed many lasting friendships there. This is just one example of how Elaine was a wonderful mother for Danny. He credits her with enabling him to become the person he is today.

Elaine’s impact on me was equally profound. I have always been an introvert. She led me toward a more balanced social outlook. Through her I got involved in community affairs, leading to relationships that remain of great value to me now. This benefited not only my social life but also my work life as a mathematician. She encouraged me to participate more fully in professional settings, and I came to rely heavily on her critical review of documents, letters and emails, especially when contentious issues were involved.

Elaine’s concern for others led us to develop many long-lasting relationships. For example, Phong Trieu moved in near us at pre-school age when his family came here after the fall of Saigon. Elaine counseled him throughout his school and university years, helping him avoid or recover from missteps on his way to becoming a water quality expert for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. He still lives in the neighborhood with his wife and two children.

Masahiko Shibazaki was one of a small group of teen-agers who had been struggling with various problems growing up in Japan. He completed his education in DC while living with us. Elaine was a mother to him in many ways, interacting with teachers and guidance counselors at Wilson High School and the University of DC. Another way Elaine helped him was coping with his poor vision. He suffered from an eye disorder more often seen in Japan than here. First, Elaine obtained a device that projected a whole page on a screen, a big improvement over a handheld lens magnifier. Second, she located a clinical trial at NIH that accepted him as a trial participant. He lives now in Tokyo with wife and one child.

Phong and Masahiko are almost like siblings to Danny. A reunion with all three families in Washington in summer 2019 was a great success.

Another example of Elaine’s caregiving is Katherine Humphrey. Katherine developed early onset Alzheimer’s disease. She and her husband Bill are among our longest and best friends. Elaine developed the necessary skills to assist Katherine in therapy sessions and in other ways.

A final example is Washington Saturday College, a volunteer program for area residents who wished to pursue a university education but needed help with preparation. Genuinely interested in all aspects of education, she had earned a master’s degree in adult education at GWU. Elaine counseled WSC students to determine their goals and abilities and helped them devise a plan for further education.

Elaine’s work history included employment at George Washington University as student advisor for off-campus programs, at Wesley Theological Seminary as a bookstore employee, and at Starwood Publishing as sales representative. The GWU and Starwood jobs required considerable travel throughout the mid-Atlantic. In 1988, Elaine and two partners formed their own small business, a mail-order gardener’s book service called The Garden Variety, that lasted a few years.

During our years in Foggy Bottom, we joined Union United Methodist Church. This was before its merger in 1975 with Concordia United Church of Christ that created the present United Church/Die Vereinigte Kirche. Elaine was a principal in the merger talks and was largely responsible for drafting the constitution and by-laws. She was a true church leader: very social, knew everyone, served on committees, sang in the choir, and perhaps most prominently led the annual Fall Sale for many years.

Elaine always had a love of gardens and gardening. No garden club existed in the Palisades, so she started one by walking the neighborhood, talking to anyone who would listen, and putting together a core group to form the Palisades Garden Association. The PGA was formed in the late 1970s and lasted well into the 2000s. In the early years she recruited speakers from local garden centers, local growers, and the DC Master Gardeners organization. Meetings took place in homes and in the Palisades Community Church. In later years PGA was less active, but people continued to meet for informal discussions centered on gardening issues.

As a child and young person, Elaine did a lot of sketching and drawing, often using color. Throughout her life she drew upon, and built upon, this early aptitude. She developed into a competent, productive artist who worked with watercolor, pencils, India ink, hard and soft charcoal, colored pencils, Conté crayons, chalk pastels, oil pastels, silk dyes, and acrylics. She exhibited her best pictures, with considerable success, at juried art shows.

After our arrival in the Palisades, Elaine’s further development as an artist started with watercolor. She concentrated on floral arrangements, landscapes, and animals and soon progressed to painting on silk. The process involves drawing on plain white silk with resist, a colorless fluid that stops dye from crossing the resist lines. The dyes are thin, and if not confined spread out uncontrollably. Elaine preferred to allow some color bleeding across the boundaries. This was a natural extension of her watercolor technique, in which she perfected the process of blending thin pigments of different colors to produce beautifully nuanced effects.

Elaine turned next to figurative painting on paper and silk. She developed a years-long association with a group of talented artists at the Yellow Barn Studio in Bethesda, MD. The group met regularly for sessions with nude and sometimes clothed models. Typically, there would be several short sketching periods with the model in still poses, followed by a longer period to allow a fuller development of a preliminary subject idea. Elaine loved working quickly, using black chalk to fill many large sheets of paper. She would select a few to refine with more drawing and addition of color washes. She used the added colors to emphasize, or highlight, certain features as integral to the overall conception of the drawing. The drawings themselves were very free, suggesting complicated poses and sometimes drawn in two or three partially overlapped poses to suggest movement or emotional feeling.

Elaine lacked formal training in art history and wanted to know more about the different periods and styles of art. The Kreeger Museum filled this need admirably. As a member and volunteer at the front desk, she took every opportunity to attend informative lectures and special events. She made many friends at the museum, and we were able to travel with some of them on art tours in the U.S. and abroad. Because of its importance in her life, Elaine supported the museum not only with her time and enthusiasm but also with substantial cash donations.

Throughout her life, Elaine was interested in anything, everything, and everybody. As I have tried to show, she acted on many of her interests, becoming deeply involved in and an advocate for the people, causes, and institutions she believed in. She was a deeply thoughtful person who enriched my life without measure.