Elaine R. O’Halloran

Elaine was born in Milwaukee to Carl and Ruth Klavitter on October 2, 1932.  She was their first child of three daughters and became a beautiful woman.  She grew up in the Concordia and Story Hill neighborhoods of Milwaukee.  Eventually, the family moved to the Mount Mary neighborhood near the Menomonee River Parkway.

Carl, her father, worked for the Milwaukee Road Railroad and put in long and hard hours for his family.  Ruth, Elaine’s mother, worked for A&P Bakery and was in the Baker’s Union.  Ruth also worked long and hard hours for their family.

Ruth had arranged for Elaine to learn to play the piano at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, where she took lessons.  Ruth taught her daughters the wonderful skills of sewing, knitting and needlework.  During WWII, since her parents did not own an automobile, Elaine spoke about trading the family’s rubber rations, used by families for tires for their cars, and received their sugar rations, to bake.  Elaine and her sisters, as young girls, knitted socks for the active duty soldiers fighting in WWII, and had their picture taken for an article in the Milwaukee Journal showing the girls at work.  She had such a beautiful face, shining brunette hair and very green eyes.  Her green eyes always sparkled.

At a young age, Elaine traveled by train during summer vacation to Dubuque, Iowa to spend time with her grandmother, enjoying a change of pace from Milwaukee.  The house was very close to the Mississippi River and had a terraced garden and an outdoor kitchen that Elaine used with her grandmother.

After graduating from Washington High School in 1950.  At this point, she was a tall and beautiful, 5 foot 10 and a half inches, shining brunette hair.  Elaine went to work for M&I Bank in Milwaukee and just loved her job.  She got up and took the bus downtown everyday, and her sister once described her as “never having a hair out of place”, she really thrived and eventually was promoted to loan officer.

During her vacations, she traveled to Los Angeles, enjoying the beach life and one summer she traveled by train to New York City and spoke of seeing Ethyl Merman on Broadway and enjoying herself at the Copacabana with a few of her close girlfriends.  It sounded like some wonderful and fun post war times.

She married her husband, Tom, of 64 years.  Eventually, leaving her job to become a homemaker, a traditional wife, as they say today.  Tom became an insurance salesman, and they spent weekends hosting parties with their “card club” playing Sheepshead.  Tom and Elaine had three children, Patrick, Colleen and Margaret.  The family lived in what is now described as the Lindsay Heights neighborhood and the family went to St. Margaret Mary Church and school.

Tom bought some property adjacent to his sister, Mary and her husband, John, and built a home by hand and Elaine helped with that process.  There were summers filled with swimming, boating, and at first camping.  It was a very classic, mid century time.  Many wonderful memories began there for the entire family.

Elaine, later in life, obtained her Life Insurance License with the State of Wisconsin.

Eventually, Tom and Elaine moved to Conover, Wisconsin, where they had built a house together. They retired there in 1995.

After retirement, Elaine traveled to England, Ireland, and Scotland.

After Tom passed away in 2022, Elaine decided to move back to the Milwaukee area, where she spent her last years.  She had a long and very interesting life.  Elaine will be missed by her family.

Visitation at Holy Cross Cemetery, 7301 West Nash Street, Milwaukee WI, on Thursday, May 8, 2025 from 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM. Funeral Service at 2:00 PM.