Elaine A. (O'Brien) Kelleher of Melrose passed away at her home surrounded by her loving family at the age of 90 years. Born in Boston, to the late Esther O'Brien, she was an only child. She grew up in Everett but spent considerable time in Orleans on Cape Cod as a child, where she attended a one-room schoolhouse still standing there. She was a graduate of Everett High School and began her career working in a local doctor's office. During WW II, she worked as an executive assistant in Boston involved in the war effort. She moved to the South Shore when her family was young and worked there for the Superintendent of Schools in Raynham. During those years, she became active in a number of community organizations, including volunteering for the Taunton Girls Club and leading a Girl Scout troop. She also was involved in other organizations and women's groups, often serving on boards or as chair of various activities. Her sense of community responsibility, combined with her impeccable diplomatic and organizational skill set, was in wide demand. Later in life, she continued working in an executive administrative capacity in St. Louis, MO for Monsanto, and the North Station office of the Boston and Maine Railroad. She culminated her career working for a vice president in the downtown Boston office of Blue Cross Blue Shield. Elaine and her husband Cornelius Kelleher built their first home in Raynham. That house, for a "city girl," must have seemed very rural but she was proud of their combined efforts to provide such a wonderful space in which her children could grow up. While working her entire life, her main career was shepherding her daughters into adulthood. That task was shaped by her goal to support their "what do I want to be when I grow up" aspirations all three daughters continue to have successful professional careers, two in Boston and one on the North Shore. She was an example of one of her generation's finest role models for young women, establishing a sometimes challenged but always successful balance between work and home life. After moving back from St. Louis, the family settled in Melrose where they lived. All three daughters also choose to live close to them, raising their respective families in Melrose. After her retirement at age sixty-five, Elaine spent her time devoted to her husband Connie's happiness and her expanding family, which by then included sons-in-laws and a slowly increasing band of grandchildren. The entire clan would often share a not-so-large house on the Cape where group lottery tickets were purchased, lots of ice cream was consumed, and the babies seemed like they would never go to sleep. She and her husband Connie were often among the last on the beach, wrapped in towels, armed with mounds of books, watching her intrepid family "beach clan" building castles in the sand. She kept a picture of her and Connie in those towels beside her bed. She was a voracious reader, a beautiful knitter of intricate sweaters for her grandchildren, the best speller "in the house" which served her well while doing crossword puzzles, and the keeper of elaborate Christmas lists strewn all around that were indecipherable to her inquisitive daughters, as they were in short-hand. Elaine and her husband Connie shared 65 years of a supportive and loving marriage that provided a model of marital and familial teamwork that served as a strong foundation for the entire family. Devoted wife of the late Cornelius Kelleher, loving mother of Maureen E. Kelleher and her husband Bert Spector, Nancy M. Kelleher and her husband Robert Calnan, and Sharon E. Kelleher-Pippy and her husband Douglas Pippy, all of Melrose. Cherished grandmother of Kayte Kelleher Spector-Bagdady and her husband Justin Bagdady, Tess Kelleher Spector, Patrick and Brian Kelleher-Calnan, and Corey and Haley Kelleher-Pippy. Aunt of Eileen Taft of NH. Funeral from the Gately Funeral Home, 79 W. Foster St. Melrose on Saturday Sept. 4th at 8AM. A Funeral Mass to celebrate the life of Elaine will be held at The Church of the Incarnation, 425 Upham St. Melrose at 9AM. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Visiting hours Friday from 4:00-8:00PM. Interment in Wyoming Cemetery, Melrose. Donations in Elaine's memory may be made to the Melrose Public Library Children's Room, 69 W. Emerson St., Melrose, MA 02176.