Elliet Aronson

Elliet N. Aronson
1933 - 2024

Elliet Aronson, 90, of East Longmeadow, MA passed away at home after a brief illness on January 3, 2024. He was formerly a long-time resident of Longmeadow.
Born in Springfield to parents Arnold and Rita (Brown) Aronson and raised in the city’s Forest Park section, he was the middle child of five, with two older brothers, Herbert (Gloria) (both deceased) and Richard (Ruth) and two younger sisters Barbara Aronson and Regina Turner (William). Elliet is survived by Kaye (Mackler) his wife of 65 years and daughter Lynne, sons Daniel (Debra) and Jon, his grandchildren Ethan Curtis, Jacob Aronson and Elizabeth Geer and many nieces and nephews.
Elliet graduated from Classical High School, class of 1951, and earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Massachusetts four years later. In 1955, he joined his father’s business National Transparent Plastic Company, a Springfield-based manufacturer of over-the-shoe boots. Elliet started at the bottom, or nearly, and received no favors from his father. He worked his way up. Servus Rubber Co. later acquired the company, and Elliet took the lead after his father’s retirement. By then, the company was located in Chicopee and was one of the area’s largest employers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. On weekends, his children sometimes accompanied him to the large factory, stopping for pancakes at Al’s Diner. His sons’ Cub Scout pinewood derby cars could be crafted in the machine shop, and his daughter’s Halloween costume stitched up in the sewing department. The boot business took Elliet and Kaye to Japan, France and Italy, travel that was much less common in those decades. When the company discontinued operations in Massachusetts, Elliet shifted his business acumen to ownership of Walter Drake, Inc., a custom plastic packaging business in Holyoke, until his retirement in 1994.
Outside of his working life, Elliet took up golf in his forties and continued that passion for four decades. Like his father, Elliet enjoyed playing bridge weekly with the same friends for many years. The game appealed to his aptitude for mental arithmetic. Even very late in life, he would read the daily bridge column in the newspaper to follow the bidding.
Elliet took a very active role in several community organizations during his years in Western Mass, including serving as the president of the Jewish Nursing Home in Longmeadow and as a long-time board member and officer of Sinai Temple. In his youth, Elliet took violin lessons from his uncle Milton Aronson, who conducted the ensemble that preceded the Springfield Symphony. The lessons didn’t stick, but his appreciation for classical music did. A perennial season ticket subscriber to the Springfield Symphony, Elliet joined the symphony board in the early 1990s and then served as its president. He would occasionally slip a cassette of his favorite music to the conductor for consideration for future performances.
For his high school senior yearbook quote, Elliet declared, “Manners make the man.” He held true to this affirmation throughout his life, always the gentleman, presentable in appearance, and never a vulgarity spoken, except on the golf course - once.
With the children grown, he and Kaye retired to Brewster, Mass on Cape Cod and Scottsdale, Arizona, where he played many rounds of golf, took countless mulligans, volunteered at Senior PGA events, and enjoyed time with his wife, children, grandchildren, and friends.
Funeral services will be held at graveside at Sinai Memorial Park 584 Cottage St, Springfield at 12:00pm on Friday, January 5th. Ascher-Zimmerman Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. For further information or directions, please visit ascherzimmerman.com. Memorial contributions may be made to JGS Lifecare, 770 Converse St., Longmeadow, MA 01106.