Friday, October 2, 2026
Elaine Stillwell, a 72-year-old Rockville Centre resident, was named 2011 Nassau County Senior Citizen of the Year by County Executive Ed Mangano. On May 13, Mangano will present the award to her at the Long Island Marriott Hotel in Uniondale.
Stillwell is the founder of the Compassionate Friends, a national self-help organization for bereaved parents and siblings. She started the organization in Rockville Centre after her son Denis and daughter Peggy were killed in a car accident in Point Lookout in 1986.
“From great loss she has created a network of caring and support for others at the worst moments in their lives …” Mangano said in a press release. “Elaine Stillwell is an inspiration to us all.”
Stillwell, who retired as an elementary school teacher in 1995, is a graduate of St. Agnes High School, Manhattanville College and has master degrees from Notre Dame and Hofstra. From 1998 through last June she coordinated bereavement programs for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, and ran its annual bereavement conferences.
Despite her retirement, grieving people can find her gifts of caring and humor in her appearances as a keynote speaker, at workshops, seminars, on radio and TV, in magazines, videos and DVDs. Among her works are three books including her 2004 signature work, “Death of a Child: Reflections for Grieving Parents” that is widely read today. Stillwell was also recently honored by her alma mater, Manhattanville, receiving its 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award last fall.
