Obituary of Elayne Tatar

Beloved mother, grandmother, and friend, Elayne Shochet Tatar died November 9, 2021 at age 82. Born Elayne Raye Shochet in Washington, D.C. on August 23, 1939, she was the eldest of Sidney and Martha Shochet’s three children. Growing up in Washington, Elayne graduated from Calvin Coolidge High School in 1957 and went on to study at Penn State University and American University. As a student at American University, she campaigned vigorously for D.C. residents’ right to vote. After college, she launched her career with a position at the CIA, but subsequently chose to attend law school at American University’s Washington College of Law, graduating with her Juris Doctor degree in 1966. That same year, she married and moved to Texas, first to Fort Worth before settling in her husband’s native Houston, where she practiced family law and started a family. As a pioneering female attorney, she had a passion for women’s rights and was active in the National Organization for Women and was the first female member of the Fort Worth Junior Bar Association. Her school-age involvement in ballet led her to be a fundraiser for the Houston Ballet. Her varied interests led her career in multiple directions, including positions with the US Bankruptcy Court and the Houston Public Library. Always excited for new adventures, a lifelong affinity for public relations spurred a move to Los Angeles in the 1990s, where she earned a masters degree in communications from the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California. In 2007, she moved to Denver, Colorado, where she quickly became an active member of the Heather Gardens community. She will be remembered by her sister Judi Shochet Marx, son Bradley Tatar and wife Jinsook Choi, and son Edmund Tatar and wife Erin Tatar. She had a deep love and adoration for her grandchildren Yujin Tatar, Noam Tatar, Natalie Tatar, and Sydney Tatar, as well as nephews/nieces Brian Marx, Michael Marx, Jennifer Marx, and Danni Shochet. A funeral service will be held at 11am ET on Monday, November 15 at Judean Memorial Gardens in Olney, Maryland.