Eleanor Bloch

Eleanor (Ellie) Stutman Salesky Spater Bloch, 83, of Tiburon, California, passed away peacefully and surrounded by her family on January 15th, 2020 at Marin General Hospital following complications from a heart attack. She was born May 14, 1936, in Brookline, Massachusetts, the daughter of Hyman and Nellie Weiner Stutman. In addition to her parents, Ellie was predeceased by her brother, Leonard Stutman, her first husband, Harry Salesky (1984), and her second husband, Don Spater (1996).

She is survived by her beloved husband, John Bloch of Tiburon, California; and three sons and daughters-in-law from her first marriage: William (Cherri) Salesky of Napa and Irvine; Joseph (Linda) Salesky of Novato; and Andrew (Christine) Salesky of San Rafael; her seven grandchildren: Joshua Salesky of Roseville, California, Jessica Salesky Lowe of Portland, Oregon, Rebecca Salesky Levitte of Santa Clara, Abigail Salesky of San Francisco, and Sophia Salesky of Novato, California, Madeleine Salesky of San Francisco, California, and Nicholas Salesky; and four great-grandchildren: Abrial Salesky, Fynnian Salesky, Avery Lowe and August Lowe. She is also survived by three stepdaughters from her marriage to her second husband, Don Spater: Deborah Spater-Melnick, Cheryl Spater, Lori Munoz; one step-grandson: Aaron Henderson, and two step-great grandchildren: Riley and Cadence. She is also survived by three children from her marriage to John Bloch: Julie Middlebrook, Jenni Hamilton, and Andrew Bloch.

Ellie graduated from Brookline High School, Class of 1954. She attended Boston University as a music major and, in later years, attended Dominican College in San Rafael, California. She was a member of Alpha Epsilon Phi, a legacy that she shared with her granddaughter, Sophia Salesky. Ellie was married in Boston in 1957 to Harry Salesky. His work brought them from New York to their home in Tiburon, California where Ellie lived for the past 48 years.

Ellie was the Co-Founder, Coordinator and a Mediator for Marin Mediation Services for 40 years. During her time there, the organization started as a non-profit and then subsequently became a County Agency. Her work as a non-attorney mediator included family, landlord-tenant, tree and view disputes and other conflict resolution and participation in the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution (SPIDR).

She was an active board member and dedicated participant in a number of community organizations. Most recently, she was a Senior Legislator representing Marin County in the California Senior Legislature (CSL), the CSL representative for the Marin County Commission on Aging (MCCoA), a Legislative committee member for the California Commission on Aging (CCoA), Advisory Board Member for San Francisco State University’s Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies (now the Estuary & Ocean Science Center) from 2010-2018 and past President of the Tiburon Sunset Rotary Club, and also valued its Rotary Readers program.

Ellie was elected as a Senior Assembly Member to the CA Senior Legislature in 2004. Over the past 16 years, Ellie has been an avid advocate at the Capitol for senior citizens across the State. Some of the more notable accomplishments during her time at the CSL include the following:

• Representative of the Joint Rules Committee (JRC) Housing & Transportation Committee

• Vice Chair of the JRC (2013-2015)

• Legislative Committee Member of the Housing & Transportation Committee

• Served on the JRC Annual Legislative Session Planning Committee

• Awarded the Moira Jackson Award for distinguished service to the CSL at the 37th Annual Legislative Session (November 2017)

• Authored several legislative proposals over the years

• In 2013, Ellie’s emergency transportation proposal (AP-2) was picked up by Assembly Member Ken Cooley and chaptered into legislation as AB 918 (ch. 187-2013)

Previously, Ellie’s community involvement included 20 years as a Board Member for Family Service Agency of Marin, 15 years as Board Member and Secretary for the Marin City Community Development Corporation and the Marin City Land Corporation.

As well as being a fiercely devoted matriarch to her extended family, Ellie was a role-model to all. She was loved and respected by many for her solution-oriented approach to activism. Along with all she gave to others, Ellie enjoyed music, art, yoga, family gatherings, and her many friends. She will be lovingly remembered as a woman with joie de vivre and trademark style, punctuated with fashionable belts and unforgettable eye-wear.

Ellie will be buried at Adath Jeshurun Cemetery in West Roxbury, Massachusetts. There will be a memorial service in her honor at Corinthian Yacht Club in Belvedere Tiburon, California on February 9th at 10:30am. Rabbi Stacy Friedman and Rabbi Elana Rosen-Brown of Congregation Rodef Sholom will officiate.

Donations in her memory can be made to the California Senior Legislature at http://www.4csl.org/

Arrangements under the direction of Stanetsky Memorial Chapel, www.stanetskybrookline.com.