Elaine Maheux

Pastor Elaine Maheux (née Martel) lived a life of learning, growth, and constant movement. Born in Pittsfield, MA, Elaine celebrated two birthdays: her actual birth on January 25, 1938, and her "official" one on January 27th, thanks to a nurse struggling to read the doctor’s handwriting. She delighted in recounting this story and happily celebrated two birthdays every year.

In 1956, she married her high school sweetheart, Leo Maheux. Elaine never let circumstances stop her from engaging in life. While 35 weeks pregnant with her first son, Marc, she took to the dance floor at her brother-in-law’s wedding to jitterbug—an act that nearly gave her mother a heart attack, but was simply Elaine refusing to sit out.

Her early years required immense resilience, living in a one-bedroom trailer and then a small apartment with two infants born just ten months apart. The boys grew up in Loudon, NH; Poughkeepsie, NY; and Underhill, VT. She anchored her family with purposeful order. Whether it was her 5:30 AM Bible readings or her meticulously kept home, she lived her whole life with resolve. To her grandchildren, she was "Mémère," the provider of pumpernickel bread and chicken soup that simply appeared on the table.

1996 was a year that tested her spirit unlike any other. In a span of nine months, Elaine lost her father in February, her sister Annette in August, and her husband Leo, who went to work one day in November and never came home.

Elaine did not retreat. She was a bit of a nomad, always seeking, traveling, and learning; her spirit simply kept her moving. She trained as a pastor and founded Island Bible Fellowship church in her home in Grand Isle. At 73, she moved solo to Israel, a testament to her courage and her desire to be exactly where she felt called. Elaine is remembered for her resolve to persist through hardship, her interminable faith, and her laughter at her grandchildren and great grandchildren’s antics.

Elaine is survived by her sons, Marc (Jane) and Tom (Mary); her granddaughters, Heidi (Shane) Conger, Melissa, Emily, and Annie; and her great-grandchildren, Willa and Gabriel.

Services will be held in the Minor Funeral Home 237 Route 7 South, Milton Saturday, Feb 14th, 2026 at 1:00PM.

"My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." — John 14:2–3