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Elizabeth Madden Guittar

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Her smile — radiant, playful, irreverent — spoke volumes about her approach to life and death. Surrounded by family, Elizabeth Madden Guittar passed away on Sept. 18, 2019, at her home in Katama. She was 78.

Born Carole Elizabeth Madden in Scotia, N.Y., to Farrell and Evelyn Madden, she graduated from Scotia-Glenville High School in 1959. She landed her first job at General Electric in nearby Schenectady. Blue-eyed and leggy, with movie-star beauty, she was tapped to model in the company’s newsletter, and later served as a hostess at the GE pavilion at the 1964–65 World’s Fair in New York City, where her gams earned her second place in Dupont’s Prettiest Legs at the Fair competition. 

Elizabeth spent most of her adult life in New York City, where she was a longtime resident of Stuyvesant Town–Peter Cooper Village, the source of many of her dearest friends. Elizabeth’s marriage to Lee Guittar, a newspaper executive, in 1979 took her and her family to live in Dallas, Denver, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. Later in life she divided her time between the Vineyard, where she was a summer resident for 35 years, and Fort Lauderdale.

As the wife of a newspaperman, Elizabeth socialized and traveled widely, bringing her into contact with prominent politicians, businesspeople, athletes, and entertainers. And though she was a small-town girl who never went to college, she could hold her own in conversation with anyone. She was equally at ease rubbing elbows with presidents as with “poor souls,” her name for the assortment of characters who gravitated to her throughout her life. She liked to quip that “no good deed goes unpunished,” but she was generous to a fault.

On the Island, Elizabeth was active in the Katama Association and Meals on Wheels. She was a member of the Edgartown Yacht Club and Farm Neck Golf Club, and especially prized her membership in the Pink Squid Yacht Club (PSYC). Every summer she looked forward to family traditions such as sunset picnics in Menemsha and drums on State Beach, and events such as the fireworks in Oak Bluffs, the Ag Fair in West Tisbury, and the Fourth of July parade in Edgartown. Two of her happiest Island memories were hearing James Taylor and Carly Simon sing together at Livestock ’95, and hosting the Vineyard Sound for a private birthday concert for her mother. She delighted in celebrity sightings with her children and grandchildren, orchestrating several “chance” encounters with the Clintons and Obamas over the years. Undoubtedly Elizabeth’s favorite pastime was sitting on her front porch on Edgartown Bay Road, greeting neighbors, friends, and passersby. She was known to offer strangers hydrangeas from her garden or invite them up to the porch for an impromptu cocktail. 

Elizabeth was a voracious reader, news junkie, and avid follower of local happenings on her police scanner, but she expressed her true joie de vivre in the kitchen, turning out dishes that rivaled those of her hero, Julia Child. Already recognized by family and friends as a first-class cook and entertainer, she enrolled in the French Culinary Institute in New York, graduating in 1998. Food, wine, and laughter flowed around Chef Elizabeth’s table, and many cherished memories were created over leisurely meals there. Even when her deteriorating health prevented her from cooking, she indulged her passion, watching the Food Network with her children and grandchildren, and posting recipes on social media. 

While her long illness sapped her strength and energy, Elizabeth never lost her sharpness or the twinkle in her eye. To know her was to love her, and her absence will leave an enormous void in many lives. She wouldn’t want us to mourn her, but that would be impossible. 

Elizabeth is survived by her husband of 39 years, Lee J. Guittar; children Elisabeth Brew, Daniel C. Shedrick Jr., and Kathryn Shedrick; grandchildren Maggie, Daniel, Ellie, Will, Thea, Katie, Pucky, and Evelyn; brothers Dennis and Michael Madden; five stepchildren, 14 step-grandchildren, nine step-great-grandchildren — a brood in which she delighted and took great pride. Drawn by her warmth, generosity, and sense of humor, “Gigi,” short for Grandma Guittar, was also a surrogate mother and grandmother to countless friends and relatives, especially the sons of her late sister, Judith Rapavy. Her nephew Barry Rapavy was like a son to her. 

Recognizing her wishes, funeral services will be private. A memorial service will be announced in the future. 

Contributions in the name of Elizabeth Madden Guittar may be sent to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, at stjude.org/donate.

 

The post Elizabeth Madden Guittar appeared first on The Martha's Vineyard Times.


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