In Memoriam: Elena Pino

At Cala Piccola on the Mediterranean Sea, 1994

Elena Pino, a native and resident of Rome, Italy, died in Padua on May 23 after battling cancer for the past year. She would have turned 57 on July 1.

Elena (accent on the first syllable, please) was one of the great loves of my life and, more important, she was one of the finest people I have ever known. The world is greatly diminished by her premature departure.

Doing relief work with Hopeful Giving

An attorney, Elena worked for many years for the Italian State Attorney’s office (similar to our Attorney General) in Catania, Florence, and Rome. She loved to travel, was enamored of weekend sailing competitions and, in recent years, had become very active in relief efforts for Italian earthquake victims and refugees from the Middle East and Northern Africa.

Elena loved and supported the arts, especially in the form of classical music, literature, and visual art. As a youngster, she sang in a chorus. She also began skiing at a very young age, loved hiking and being by the sea at her place in Cala Piccola, and enjoyed all things beautiful, especially wild flowers.

More than anything, Elena loved - and was beloved by - people of all kinds. She never married or had children, but Elena was devoted to her nieces Carlotta and Benedetta, her nephew Tomasso, and Carlotta’s two little girls, all of whom survive her. She is also survived by her brother, Maurizio Pino, and his wife, Brunella, of Rome; and by her fiancé, Albertino Pastorini of Padua.

Elena was a co-founder with Albertino of the relief organization Hopeful Giving, which became the centerpiece of her existence in her final years. You can make a donation to Hopeful Giving in her memory and support relief efforts for struggling refugees in Europe by going to https://www.facebook.com/HopefulGivingIdomeni/.

Addio, Elenina.