BIOGRAPHY

Lillian Elam was born in Indiana, USA, on 23 February 1915, as the oldest of three children born to parents William Carl Young and Louisa Anna Rhodes. She had a sister, Evelyn Ferguson, and a brother, William Young.

She grew up in South Bend, Indiana, where she met her future husband, Joseph Barton Elam III of Mansfield, Louisiana, at a USO dance at Notre Dame in 1941. They married on 24 January 1944, in San Francisco while Joe was on leave from the Navy. After the war, Lillian joined Joe, a petroleum engineer, in the oil fields of Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The couple eventually settled in Houston in 1961, where Joe continued his engineering career with Esso Pipeline Company (later ExxonMobil Corporation), while Lillian dedicated herself to managing their home and caring for their two children, Judith Ann and Joseph Barton Elam IV. Once both children had left for college, Lillian began working as the Circulation Manager for the Cordovan Publishing Company in Houston.

Her husband passed away on 11 May 1982, after 38 years of marriage. Lillian remained in the family home, leading a fulfilling life filled with travel and spending time with her grandchildren. In July 2013, at the age of 98, she moved into the University Place Retirement Community in Houston.

Elam passed away on 16 March 2025, at the age of 110 years, 21 days.

RECOGNITION

Her age was verified by Eli Logan, and validated by LongeviQuest on 29 March 2025.

ATTRIBUTION

* Lillian Margaret Elam obituary – Dignity Memorial

GALLERY