Elsie Easterbrook Obituary

Elsie Cocco Easterbrook SEABROOK ISLAND, SC - Elsie Cocco Easterbrook passed away peacefully in her sleep on July 13th at home on Seabrook Island, South Carolina, where she had lived for the past twenty years, after relocating from Connecticut, where she was born on August 4, 1931. She was 87 years old and in those years she proved to be an extraordinary woman, mother, performer and teacher who had an impact on her community and the lives of many throughout her life. She began piano lessons at five with Anna Verrilli and soon after had her first paying job in music - singing a radio commercial for a local store, for which she was paid 25 cents. As a ten year old, she went on to play at Carnegie Hall at the invitation of world renowned composer Pietro Yon. Maestro Yon was only the first of many luminaries of the musical world who recognized not only her talent and exceptional musicianship, but also her charismatic personality. She studied with Moshe Paranov, Raymond Hansen, and Simeon Bellison and graduated from Hartt College of Music, now part of the University of Hartford. She concertized solo and in duet with Elizabeth Warner and accompanied opera diva Licia Albanese. She also played for both Eugene Ormandy and Fausto Cleva, and performed duets with the reknowned Van Cliburn. While she was a great presence on the concert stage, Elsie's greatest love was in awakening students to the joy of music and seeing their eyes fill with wonder when they first realized they could create such beauty themselves. She is survived by hundreds of students of all ages to whom she gave the gift of music. Her commitment to community was an abiding theme in her life, and she chaired committees to ensure that schools would have well managed arts programs, often raising the money to fund the initiatives. She initiated summer pops concerts that led the Hartford Symphony to perform in surrounding towns, benefiting both the suburbs and the orchestra itself. She wrote regular columns as a music critic for the Connecticut Post and Bridgeport Herald and on a TV show, all with a zeal to make music and other performing arts more accessible in daily life. After her move to South Carolina she continued her commitment to community service in the Exchange Club and with her involvement with the Sisters of Mercy in outreach to those in need. She accompanied the Seabrook Island Choraliers, a popular men's chorus known for its uplifting performances throughout the Lowcountry. The men of the Choraliers will perform at a Memorial service to celebrate her life which will be held at Church of Our Savior, John's Island, SC on Saturday, September 7th at 11:00 am. Predeceased by her parents Domenick and Mary Cocco, prominent in Connecticut politics, business, and philanthropy, and her brother, Dr. Thomas B.D.Cocco, a Connecticut surgeon, she is survived by her husband, Ray Easterbrook, sons Craig and his wife Dr. Claudia Rocha of James Island, SC, and Bradford of Stamford, CT. Her grandchildren were the light of her life: grandson Christopher, and granddaughters Sophia, Shawn, and Adaire. She leaves also her sister, Virginia Simpson, of Walterboro, SC, and nephew David Simpson, of James Island, SC, and nephews Thomas Cocco, Christopher Cocco and Justin Cocco and niece Nicole Cocco Constantino who all reside in Fairfield County, CT. Visit our guestbook at www.legacy.com/obituaries/ charleston