Elizabeth M. Ralston died on September 17, 2023, in North Adams, Massachusetts
(The following was provided by iberkshires.com on September 17, 2023:)
Elizabeth M. Ralston
Our beloved mother, grandmother, sister, and aunt; Elizabeth M. Ralston passed away Sunday morning, September 17, 2023, at her home with her crystal prisms shining down upon her eighteen-month battle with pancreatic cancer finally at the merciful close.
Elizabeth was born April 29, 1944, to the late Stanley and Genevieve (Luczynski) Gorczakoski in North Adams. She graduated from Drury High School in 1962 and attended Springfield College. She was employed by J.J. Newberry’s, American Airlines in New York City, ATT Telephone Co., Bowdoin College, Greylock Elementary School in her younger years before she and her husband, Daniel, began the family business of Ralston Auto Parts in 1980.
Beginning in 1969-1971 Elizabeth family grew to five with the births of her three children. She excelled at motherhood and her total involvement of raising them. She also found time to be a Brownie Troop Leader, Gray Lady at North Adams Regional Hospital, PTA President and part of the Drury Booster Club.
Elizabeth made time also for her creative passions, knitting and crocheting family heirlooms while her children were young and in later years hand stitched quilting. Those exceptional and beautiful quilts will long remain with her family for generations to come.
She married the late Daniel E. Ralston in St. Francis of Assisi Church on August 21, 1965; he died December 13, 2003, their marriage of thirty seven years, a true love story with their favorite sentiment to one another, ” I love you more than words can say or actions can express.” Their life together took them from North Adams to Maine then Oklahoma and finally back home again.
Elizabeth leaves behind her three children Steven (Julie), Jennifer (Raymond) and Shaun (Jessica) in addition to her grandchildren Zoe and Nathan Ralston, Danielle King, and Andrew and Samuel Ralston. She also leaves her sisters Antoinette Sicard, Bereniece Gorczakoski, and Sallie Benedetti, plus many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents, sister Ginger Stanley and brother-in-law Robert Sicard. We are also indebted to her many friends for their love and care for her during her illness.