Fiore, Elsie C. (Thornton), of Arlington, May 14, 2022.
Devoted wife of the late Joseph A. Fiore. Loving mother of David J. Fiore and his wife Kathy, Carl W. Fiore, Peter J. Fiore and Russell A. Fiore. Cherished Grandmother to Kimberly, Christopher, Kristianne, Dianna, Christian, Andrew, Christopher, and Daniel. Adored Great Grandmother to Justin, Jordyn, Kellen, Aria, Logan, and Thobias. Also survived by nieces, nephews, and many other loving relatives and friends.
Visiting hours at the Rogers & Hutchins Funeral Home, 292 Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington on Friday, May 20, 2022, from 5:00 to 8:00 pm.
A funeral service will be held on Saturday, May 21, 2022, at the Trinity Baptist Church, 115 Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington at 10:00 am.
Elsie was born Elsie Constance Thornton in Quincy, MA on November 22, 1926; Daughter of Jens and Ingeborg Thornton; she was One (1) of six (6) children; with four (4) brothers and one (1) sister; and was pre-deceased by her siblings, Brothers: Inge, Gunnar, Jens and Leif; Sister: Valgard known as Nusa.
Her Father Jens and Brother Gunnar both worked on the Manhattan Project which developed the Atomic Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan to end the War in the Pacific during World War II.
Her Father Jens designed the electrical plant at Oak Ridge Tennessee which was the plutonium plant and uranium enrichment plant for the Manhattan Project, the group tasked with developing the first atomic bomb.
Her Brother Gunnar is one of the group of engineers who wrote their names on the bomb “Little Boy” before it was loaded into the B-24 Bomber, the Enola Gay to be dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.
Elsie and her sister Val were members of the United Services Organization (USO) and entertained troops during World War 2 dancing at Fort Devens and on Naval Warships that docked at the Boston Shipyard in Charlestown and at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy.
She was married to Joseph A. Fiore on July 23, 1949 and moved to Arlington the same year. They purchased their home in Arlington in 1949 for $10,000, and were married for 47 years until her husband Joseph’s passing in 1996.
Elsie attended public school in Quincy, Massachusetts until High School when she attended the Woodward School for Girls in Quincy and graduated in 1945. After High School, she attended the Hickox Secretarial School in Boston receiving a diploma. She then went on to attended UMASS Boston at the downtown campus in Park Square where she once gave Vermont Senator and 2016 and 2020 Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders 50 cents so he could take the MBTA. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the UMASS College of Public and Community Service in 1985, Worked as a legal Secretary in some of the most notable and venerable law firms in Boston including, but not limited to, (Ropes and Gray), (Hale and Dorr), (Hill and Barlow), (Scadden-Arps), (Goodwin-Proctor), (Withington-Cross), and (Csapler and Bok).
While at Csapler and Bok, Elsie was the personal secretary for such notable attorneys as Barbara Rouse, who went on to be Chief Justice of the Superior Court in Massachusetts and Margaret Marshall who went on to be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts;
She was first elected to Town Meeting in Arlington, Massachusetts in 1962 and served 57 years until 2018 making her the longest serving Town Meeting Member with near perfect attendance. She was also a founding member of the East Arlington Good Neighbor Committee, Member of the Mystic Valley Watershed Association, former member and Chairman of the Town of Arlington Conservation Committee, a former substitute teacher in the Arlington Elementary Schools, and former Measurer of Wood and Bark for the Town of Arlington.
In 2006, Elsie was summoned to the State House and given the "Unsung Heroine" Award by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women for her work in the community.
In 2008 she was named the Rotary Club's "Community Person of the Year".
In 2015 Elsie was named as one of the "Legendary Locals of Arlington" in the book of the same name by authors Barbara Goodman and Marjorie Howard for her work in the community.
In 1970 she began the fight to prevent the improper development of the 17-acre parcel of open space in East Arlington now commonly known as the "Mugar Site", a cause that has grown from her single-handed determination into the resolve of an entire community and hundreds of its’ residents.
She was a longtime member of Trinity Baptist Church in Arlington since 1962 where she taught Sunday School, sang in the choir, and played the piano during Church.
In lieu of flowers please consider making a donation in Elsie’s memory to the Woodward School, 1102 Hancock Street, Quincy, MA 02169, where she was a graduate of the Class of 1945