[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 98 (Friday, June 26, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1602]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       IN REMEMBRANCE AND RECOGNITION OF TIMOTHY MICHAEL ELLIOTT

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                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 25, 2009

  Mr. KUCINICH. Madam Speaker, I rise today in remembrance of Timothy 
Michael Elliott and in recognition of his service to our country and 
his dedication to the City of Cleveland, Ohio. Tim lived and worked in 
the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood of Cleveland's west side in my 
district. He sought to preserve Cleveland's historic housing one house 
at a time and devoted his time to ensuring the historic integrity of 
each home he restored.
  As a young man, Tim served in the U.S. Army and worked as a draftsman 
for Hauserman Inc., and B.F. Goodrich. He also worked for Century 21 
Real Estate and led the Nolasco Housing Corporation, a non-profit 
development organization affiliated with the neighborhood Catholic 
Church, Our Lady of Mount Carmel. In addition to his work, he dedicated 
his life to the City of Cleveland. He was proud of the west side 
neighborhood in which he lived and became concerned about deteriorating 
conditions. He began to buy and repair neighboring homes to improve the 
housing of the neighborhood. He rarely worked on houses he could not 
walk to from his Herman Avenue home. ``He could walk into a place that 
was falling apart and not see it as it was but what it could be,'' said 
Judge Ray Pianka, a neighbor and friend as well as Cleveland's 
municipal housing judge. ``He has taken some homes that appeared to be 
beyond saving and made them showplaces.''
  Also within walking distance of their home was Edgewater State Park, 
a beautiful park along the Lake Erie shore with beaches, boating, 
picnic areas, and other recreational activities. Tim and his wife Mimi, 
along with other neighbors and local officials, started the Friends of 
Edgewater Park to promote and preserve this wonderful amenity in their 
neighborhood. Tim is survived by his wife Mimi, his son Timothy Michael 
Jr., his granddaughter Brooke Elliott, and his many friends.
  Madam Speaker and colleagues, please join me in celebrating the life 
of Tim Elliott, and in recognizing his dedication to the betterment of 
our community. His service and leadership in the west side neighborhood 
of Cleveland inspired us all to work toward neighborhood preservation.

   Timothy Elliott, 63, Fixed Up Old Homes on the West Side--Obituary

                           (By Grant Segall)

       Tim Elliott helped to turn around the West Side. The 
     painstaking renovator and Realtor helped revive Ohio City and 
     Detroit-Shoreway in the past four decades, boosting a couple 
     of hundred properties and winning over skeptical investors, 
     bankers and officials.
       Elliott died Friday in his West Side home, one of his pet 
     projects, a 3,200-square-foot Italianate from the 1860s. He 
     was 63 and had struggled for several years with strokes.
       ``He could walk into a place that was falling apart and not 
     see it as it was but what it could be,'' said Raymond Pianka, 
     Cleveland's housing judge, a neighbor and the employer of 
     Elliott's widow, Mimi. ``He has taken some homes that 
     appeared to be beyond saving and made them showplaces.''
       Elliott liked not just walking into a place but walking to 
     it. He'd turn down a project if he and his small crew 
     couldn't walk there from their homes.
       He hoped each project would ripple through the 
     neighborhood. He preferred corner homes, helping two blocks 
     instead of one.
       He liked to install modern conveniences such as whirlpools 
     while highlighting history.
       ``There's not a newer old house in the city,'' he boasted 
     about one salvage job.
       He bought homes suffering from water, waste and vandals and 
     sold them for several times his purchase price. He'd comb 
     rural Ohio for replacement parts or make them himself, from 
     tiles to spindles.
       Elliott said he'd decided at age 7 to spruce up old homes. 
     He was born on the East Side, the seventh of eight children. 
     His father was an engineer, and several brothers followed 
     suit.
       He left Cleveland at 12 and graduated from Willoughby South 
     High School. He enlisted in the U.S. Army, making photographs 
     and maps, serving partly in South Korea.
       Elliott returned to Cleveland in the early 1970s and helped 
     Hauserman Inc. draft work for projects such as the Americana 
     high-rise in Euclid. He later drafted pipes and buildings for 
     Goodrich in Solon.
       On the side, he got an associate's degree in arts at 
     Cuyahoga Community College.
       He started renovating West Side homes about 1978. He owned 
     about 16 buildings over the years and handled many others as 
     well.
       He worked for Century 21 and led Nolasco Housing Corp., a 
     development group affiliated with Our Lady of Mt. Carmel 
     Church, in the 1980s.
       Elliott was honored by Cleveland Magazine and the Cleveland 
     Restoration Society.
       On the side, he liked to bicycle, raise terriers and sail. 
     He put together a 27-foot boat from a kit.

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