Elaine Bearman (Bearman) Long
Marriages
Kenneth Long
Burial Details
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 5 B Death Notice - March 3, 2016
Elaine Bearman Long, 88, Grand Junction, died March 2,
2016, at St. Mary’s Hospital.
Services will take place at 11 a.m. Friday at the Orchard Mesa
Cemetery.
Ms. Long was a social worker.
Survivors include one son, Aaron Long of Grand Junction; one
daughter, Beth Long of Denver; three grandchildren; and one
great-grandchild.
Memorial contributions to the Ohr Shalom General Fund, P.O.
Box 1311, Grand Junction 81502.
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 6 A Obituary - March 4, 2016
Elaine Long
July 16, 1927 - March 2, 2016
Elaine Bearman Long, 88, died March 2nd, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction.
Elaine was born July 16, 1927, in Memphis, Tennessee to A.D. and Bertha Bearman.
Growing up in Memphis, she excelled in speech and debate and won several state-wide competitions. Her mother died while she was in high school, and upon graduating high school with honors, she attended
Northwestern University and graduated with a BA in Speech
and English. While at Northwestern she met Kenneth Long and they were married shortly after her father died in June, 1949.
Moving to Memphis, she had her children, Aaron in 1951 and
Beth in 1953. Elaine’s brother, Jerry, moved to Colorado Springs to open a hardware store, and in 1956, Elaine and family moved there to help in the business. Soon afterwards, Jerry opened a branch store and the Longs moved to Denver where Ken and Elaine ran the store. Two years later, Jerry sold the store, and Ken became a manufacturer’s representative. They formed Ken Long Sales, which still exists as the Long Sales Group run by their daughter, Beth, and son-in-law, Brent.
Elaine was extremely active in the National Council of Jewish
Women, serving as a local and national representative.
Additionally, she taught religious school at Temple Emanuel for
many years. She enrolled in the University of Denver Graduate
School of Social Work, attaining her MSW in 1969. She worked
for several years at Jewish Family and Children Service,
specializing in psychiatric social work and adoptions. After, she
worked with Ken in the family business until Ken retired in
1995.
Elaine was active in many volunteer and social activities in
Denver including volunteering at the Denver Zoo and the
Denver Art Museum. She was an avid reader and game player,
participating in many book clubs and regular bridge and
mahjong games. She and Ken enjoyed traveling the world,
especially Paris. After Ken died in 2005, she continued her
volunteer activities and was very active at Temple Sinai, where
she was on the Board of Directors and co-chaired Senior
Education until 2012 when she moved to Grand Junction.
In Grand Junction, she established residence at the Fountains
and quickly developed friendships. She was active in
Congregation Ohr Shalom and acted as the Board of Directors’ Parliamentarian. She also began teaching mahjong to members of the synagogue and quickly developed a reputation as an excellent "mahjong maven". She loved the friendships she had within the community and especially appreciated her acceptance into synagogue life. She will be remembered for her unceasing devotion to proper grammar, reverence for Robert’s Rules of Order, zeal for civil rights, social justice and liberal causes, impressive shoe collection, and love of her grandchildren and great-grandchild (unfortunately she is unavailable to edit this obituary, so please excuse any grammatical errors).
Survivors include son, Aaron (Beth); daughter, Beth Long-
Myers (Brent); grandchildren, Rachel LaCount (Aaron), Hannah (Noah Gomes),and Jordan; niece, Kit Howard and her adored great-grandchild, Jonah Ken LaCount. A constant in her life was her best friend, Norma Fried. They shared many adventures together and remained close for almost 60 years.
The family would like to thank her wonderful care providers at
St. Mary’s Hospital and Larchwood Inns including Oncology
and Dr. Wettstein, Cardiology and Dr. Garmany, and all the
other amazing, wonderful physicians, nurses and aides whose
kind, compassionate care is deeply appreciated. We would also like to express our appreciation to her caregiver and friend, June Sampson.
Graveside service will be at 11:00 a.m., Friday, March 4th, at
the Ohr Shalom Cemetery in the Grand Junction Municipal
Cemetery at 5th and Unaweep. Reception to follow at the
LaCount’s.
Memorial contributions may be sent to Congregation Ohr
Shalom, General Fund, PO Box 1311, Grand Junction, CO,
81502.
