Elaine K. Haidt Obituary (1931 - 2017)

Elaine K. Haidt, 86, of Columbus Ohio; formerly of Scarsdale, NY and Chapel Hill, NC. Died peacefully at Zusman Hospice on May 21, 2017. Predeceased by her husband of 56 years, Harold Haidt; by her parents Joseph and Rose Kaplan; and by her four sisters Selma, Marcia, Gertrude “Trudy” and Bernice “Bunny”. Beloved mother of Rebecca Haidt (Kaye Norton), of Bexley, OH; Jonathan Haidt (Jayne Riew), of New York, NY; and Samantha Haidt Davenport (Tim), of New Canaan, CT. Loving grandmother of Alexander, Jackson, Eliza, Lucas, Benjamin, Max and Francesca. Born Elaine Meredith Kaplan in 1931 in the Bronx, NY and the youngest of five daughters, she received her BA from Hunter College in 1951 and worked as a second-grade elementary school teacher on the Lower East Side for several years. She married the Brooklyn-born Harold Haidt, a patent attorney, on July 4, 1954. They had three children together: Rebecca (1961), Jonathan (1963), and Samantha (1965), and raised their family in Scarsdale, NY. Elaine and Harold were avid travelers, but their favorite destination was the Algarve, in the south of Portugal, where they built a home, Vila Ambrazul, in the coastal town of Carvoeiro. Elaine and Harold retired to Chapel Hill, NC in 1995, residing in Governors Club until 2010. Following Harold’s death, Elaine moved in 2013 to Creekside at the Village, a part of Wexner Heritage Village in Columbus, OH. A woman of many interests and talents, Elaine was a creator of beauty and light, indoors and out. She had a rapier wit, a love for the richness of the English language, a gift for creating lush gardens and plantscapes, and a passion for Blues music, Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, and musical theatre. She read the New York Times from cover to cover every day, and never missed a chance to break into song. Elaine had an eye for the unusual, and a deep interest in the histories told by objects. Building on collections she had begun forming in the 1950s, from the 1960s to the 1980s she ran the independent business Elaine Haidt Antiques, selling from her Scarsdale home and at antique shows and fairs around the Tri-State area. After her last child left for college, Elaine returned to school to obtain her Master’s degree in English at Lehman College of the City University of New York. She was active for many years in the Indoor Light Gardening Society of America, and volunteered at the North Carolina Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill. In her later years, she devoted herself to her grandchildren, and to her poodle, Koko. In lieu of flowers, those wishing to do so are encouraged to make donations to the Alzheimer’s Association.