Elisa Esmonde

Elisa Esmonde passed away on Monday, July 18, 2011 after a rich life filled with many wonderful memories. One of 16 children in the Gambescia family, the embodiment of a large Italian family, she grew up in a house filled with love and laughter. She met and married her high school sweetheart and love of her life, Michael, and was blessed with four beautiful children, Michele, Michael, Patrick, and Megan. Upon the marriage of each of her children, she welcomed Travis, Alycia, Helena, and John into the clan as if they were her own. Her kids were the light and joy of her life, that is, until the arrival of her beloved grandchildren: Jordan, Ezabella, Davis, and sweet Thomas. She loved her children and grandchildren fiercely, and had a little left to spare, so she adopted two very lucky dogs, Besse and Missy who never wanted for anything from the moment she took them in. Before she was a loving and devoted mother, Lisa led an adventurous life. she was a hospital nurse in Philadelphia. She rode motorcycles and even entered a drag race in her mother's station wagon! She did concert lighting locally in Philadelphia and was a touring wardrobe tech for Elton John and Jethro Tull. She worked on a lobster boat off the waters of Cuba. She was a seriously good softball player and was said to be a better athlete than her husband. She embraced life and lived it to the fullest. Lisa was young at heart, loved the beach, long walks with the dogs, and as anyone who ever had the pleasure of dining out wit her knew, loved unsweetened ice tea with lots of ice and a bowl of lemons. Her smile could light up a room, as it always did when she volunteered in Guest Services at Arnold and Winnie Palmer Hospital, and the Lisa Merlin House. She kept the Florida Esmonde streak of working at Universal Studios Florida by driving the employee tram and running the mail room.

In lieu of flowers, we are asking for donations to be made in her memory to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (http://www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org/).

Please join us in celebrating 59 years of family and friends at Holy Family Catholic Church on Friday July 22, 2011. Visitation will be at 1:00 pm followed by a Funeral Mass at 2:00 pm. Lisa wishes to be cremated so there will be no burial.