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Elaine Brown Malcolm
PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. — Having recently returned from a fabulous week-long Thanksgiving trip to Colorado to visit her daughter and family, Elaine Malcolm passed away suddenly at her home on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022. She was 83.
Alice Elaine (nee Brown) Malcolm, (Elaine), of Prairie Village was born on Nov. 16, 1939, in Kansas City, Missouri, to Roy and Mildred Brown. After spending her early years in Springfield, Missouri, the family moved to Kansas City, where she graduated from Center High School. Elaine attended the University of Missouri, where she was a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority. She graduated from Southeast Missouri State University.
She is survived by three children, Clinton Malcolm of Topeka, Kansas, Melinda (Mindy) Malcolm Neiblum (Jeff) of Fort Collins, Colorado, and Elizabeth Anne Herbig (Chris) of Overland Park, Kansas; and eight grandchildren, (they called her Tutu), whose names we’ll list because, after all, who doesn’t like to find their name in a Google search. They are listed by age, not importance, so as not to hurt any feelings: Blake Malcolm (Jessi), Jordan Neiblum, Hunter Neiblum, Rachael Herbig, Caroline Herbig, Matthew Herbig, Cameron Neiblum, and Rebecca Herbig. She also had three great-grandchildren, whose names may be being published for the first time, and are, thus, “Googlable”: Forrest Denton, Russell Malcolm and Charlotte Malcolm.
Elaine was blessed to have an extended nuclear family. After their divorce, Elaine and Allen Malcolm remained friends and he, his wife, Carolyn Malcolm of Springfield, and their children, Brett Malcolm (Julie), of Wildwood, Missouri, and Mary Leslie Hashbarger (Mike), of Chesterfield, Missouri, along with their eight children, (space and “per word” fees prohibit listing their names), all considered Elaine family and the feeling was mutual.
Not to be overlooked are lifelong friends, (not to be all inclusive, but these are the ladies living in Kansas City that were a big part of her life), Nancy Myers, Jennifer Turner and Marcia Holland. She lived, and raised her family in, Sikeston, Missouri, from 1967-1983, at which time she moved to St. Louis, Missouri. Subsequently, Elaine lived and worked in the Greater Washington, D.C., area, Springfield, Missouri, and the Kansas City area. She spent most of her working career as a Legal Assistant. She worked in private practice; Federal courts; and the U.S. Attorney’s office. During her time in DC in the ’90s, she worked at the White House Visitor’s Office. While there, she had the privilege, fun and good fortune of attending White House functions and providing tours to dignitaries and a few celebrities. Name drop: She provided a tour to Tom Hanks and his family while he was filming “Forrest Gump,” but her all-time favorite was Esther Williams, whom she idolized as a child. After “retiring” in the mid-2000s, Elaine embarked on a second career as a Sorority House Director, (in lay terms, House Mom), back where it all started, at the University of Missouri and the Alpha Delta Pi house. Along with her faithful and loving Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Penny, this eventually took her to the University of Kansas (ADPi), back to Mizzou, (Sigma Kappa), and finally to Missouri State University, (Sigma Sigma Sigma). Her legacy may be that many young ladies learned the difference between “upstairs and downstairs language” and that the salt and pepper shakers are always passed as a pair.
Elaine was an active member of PEO and enjoyed getting together regularly with her Alpha Delta Pi sorority sisters.
Elaine will be remembered for many things: she was kind, thoughtful, generous and loving. She had a great sense of humor and she and her family laughed, a lot! She was witty and could find the humor in the absurd. Her daughters called it “Sassy.” She loved, was loved and will be missed. And when we remember I’m sure that we will laugh, a lot!
A Memorial Service will be held at 11:30 a.m. Dec. 27 at Johnny Cascone’s Restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas.
For more information, please visit www.PenwellGabelKC.com.
Contributions can be made to the Sikeston Depot and Museum, Sikeston.