Deceased August 12, 2017
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In Memory
I knew Elliott only slightly at Cranbrook and Amherst, but in the past 10 years MaryAnn and I became good friends with his wife, Jill, and with him.
We saw Elliott three times in the last couple of months, while he was in hospice. The first time, he was in his big barn and garage, working to get three motorcycles ready to take to a motorcycle event the next day in Battle Creek. He was having difficulty walking by then, but he could sit on a rolling seat and work. One of the cycles was giving him and a friend trouble until Elliott shot some silicone into a cable and freed the throttle. He smiled broadly when it fired up. The three of us wheeled the bikes into a trailer, and Elliott tied them down with bungee cords. They were ready to travel.
We saw him the last time just a few days before the donation of a 1911 Flanders 4 motorcycle to the Chelsea Historical Society. Read that story at chelseahistory.org/1911-flanders-motorcycle-refurbished.
Elliott transferred to Amherst from MIT in 1966, joined Phi Psi, ran track and cross-country and opened his own motorcycle shop while still at the college. After graduating, he built motorcycles and raced professionally until 1982, when he joined the engineering division at Caltech as chief administrator and mechanical engineering advisor for the remaining 22 years of his work life.
Elliott was a terrific guy—smart, possessed of a wry wit, accomplished but modest and kind. A national class runner and marathoner, he exemplified the definition of a scholar-athlete-mechanical wizard.
Elliott’s legacy will be carried forward by his three daughters, Gillian Andrews, Sylvie Andrews and Ariel Andrews Raupagh, as well as his two grandsons, Nolan, 5, and Alex, 2. We should all hope to face the end with the grace and dignity that Elliott did.
Joe Kimble ’67