It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Elisa Hirvonen, devoted wife, mother, sister, and friend. Born on October 16, 1956, in the Bronx, New York City, Elisa’s life was filled with joy, love, and inspiring resilience.
Along with her parents, Olavi Hirvonen and Hilja Hautamaa, and older brother Esa, her childhood was spent enjoying the outdoors in the mountains of Vermont before moving to Westchester County, New York. Growing up with parents who had emigrated from Finland, they were proud to witness Elisa win the Miss Finlandia competition as a stunning teenage tyttö (young girl).
Elisa went to Earlham College to study art in 1974. There she met Henry Dale while they were on a college field trip. They moved together to Philadelphia where Elisa continued her education at the Philadelphia College of Art. However, back home tragedy struck the Hirvonen family as Elisa learned that her brother, Esa, had been killed in a motorcycle accident in 1977. As the family recovered from the sudden loss of Elisa’s older brother, they bonded together to plan a Finnish-American wedding for Elisa and Henry one year later. The couple were happily married at Lapland Lake, a cross-country ski center established by her parents.
After a time spent exploring various living options, Elisa and Henry eventually settled in Princeton, New Jersey. There in 1980, Elisa continued honing her artistic ability as an early member of the Arts Council of Princeton where she practiced drawing nude figures. In 1984, she gave birth to the first of her three sons, Kai David Dale.
Motherhood did not stop Elisa from continuing to produce artwork at home and as a student at Trenton State College nearby in Ewing. The family welcomed two more boys to the family, George Nikolai Dale in 1992 and Julian Asaph Dale in 1994. However, Elisa was not the only female in the household. She happily welcomed the arrival of Henry’s mother, Amy Gatchell, to their home and the pair quickly formed a lasting bond.
Elisa shared her love of the outdoors with her family and organized camping trips and summer excursions to the Jersey Shore every year. Elisa and her family would also continue to return to the town of Benson, NY, where they would visit Elisa’s mother and her husband, Phil, before hitting the ski trails at Lapland Lake nearby to visit with Elisa’s father, his wife Ann, and their daughter Leila.
As Elisa’s sons grew and she found more time to herself, she turned her attention back to establishing a career, beginning with one passion she had particularly cultivated in her free time: gardening. In 1997, Elisa began her own gardening and landscaping business, calling herself “The Garden Nanny.” The business flourished, but Elisa found that she was not spending enough time expressing creativity in her work and shuttered the service after a year.
In 2001, Elisa’s family was devastated by the sudden passing of George, Elisa’s middle child, who was killed in an accident during a parade. The loss of George had a tremendous impact on the family and Elisa was a beacon of strength through the tragedy. With the generous support of friends and family, Elisa was able to establish a fund in George’s name for underprivileged children to take classes at the Arts Council of Princeton.
As the years passed, Elisa was finally able to leverage her education in the arts to pursue a career as an art teacher. After earning a graduate degree at Bank Street College in NYC, Elisa landed a position at the Princeton Charter School, teaching art classes to elementary school students in 2005. At home, Elisa continued exploring artistic mediums and adopted a passion for working with clay. She founded The Raisin Studio, born out of a refurbished shed in her backyard, where she hosted clay sculpting classes and crafted her signature “edgy bowls.”
Sadly, Elisa was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2007, which remained a constant challenge to her active lifestyle. While her 17-year battle with the debilitating effects of Parkinson’s disease may have slowed down her physical movements, she kept her spirit and passion for life going. She worked at Princeton Makes, a co-op for local artists, working studio, and haven for anyone with artistic curiosity. She was a Qigong instructor after taking the opportunity to travel to China on a Qigong retreat earlier in her life and years of training and dedication to the movement. In 2014 she co-founded the band Woe Nellies which shortly became a five-person group that would practice and perform regularly to share their mutual love of playing the ukulele and singing.
In Elisa’s later years, she found movement increasingly difficult but remained a constant source of support for her family and friends. While rarely asking for help, Elisa found an abundance of willing supporters in loved ones around her who were often more than willing to share in her creative pursuits and outdoor excursions — despite her mobility challenges.
Elisa is survived by her husband, Henry Dale; sons, Kai (Kriti Gupta) and Julian; sister, Leila; aunt, Linda (John Booth).