M. Elaine Updike

Elaine Hadley Updike, resident of Falls Township for 75 years, met her eternal rest on December 20th, 2025, while at home in Levittown, Pennsylvania, after three years of slowly advancing medical challenges. Born March 15th, 1929, in Morrisville, the daughter of Alfred Wood Hadley and Mary Stout Hadley, she was the widow of Walter Hunt Updike.

After graduation from Morrisville High School, Elaine worked as a waitress at the Transit Diner in Morrisville, a newsstand clerk at the Trenton Train Station and the Perry Street Bus Terminal, and was a proofreader for the Trenton Times. In her youth, she picked asparagus at the Baker farm on Falls Tullytown Road. While raising her family, she was a door-to-door salesperson for Avon cosmetics. She learned to cook from her mother, and was accomplished in producing the family recipes and her own.

Elaine met her husband Walt as a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Trenton. Walt's service as an early member of the Falls Township Fire Police led to Elaine's active membership in the Falls Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary. Walt's interest in antique automobiles colored much of her married life and work. Elaine was a fixture at car shows and antique auto parts flea markets in the region. She was a charter member of the Keystone Region Antique Automobile Club of America, and a lifetime member of Delaware Valley Model A Ford Club and the Central Delaware Valley Early Ford V8 Club. She juggled family responsibilities and the family antique car parts business, and continued to sell parts to hobbyists for many years after her husband's death. It was a life that introduced her to many people, whose company and laughter she seemed to enjoy most above all things.

Preceded in death by husband Walt, sister Gail Waterman (wife of Ken) and grandson Gary Updike (husband of Lauren), Elaine is survived by son Harold (husband of Sharon) of Agoura Hills, California; son Barry (husband of Nancy) of Bristol; son Charles of Levittown; sister Gwen Simon (wife of Ory) of Yardville, New Jersey; brother Alfred Hadley (husband of Donna) of Kalamazoo, Michigan; granddaughter Chrissy Gebert of Agoura Hills; grandson Andrew Updike (husband of Marianne) of Croydon; grandson Dave Updike of Thousand Oaks, California; eight great-grandchildren, and nine nieces and nephews.

Friends and family may pay their respects during visitation at J. Allen Hooper Funeral Chapel, 41 W. Trenton Ave. in Morrisville on December 31, 2025, from 10:00 to 11:00 AM, with funeral services at the same location at 11:00 AM. Interment will follow at Morrisville Cemetery at 12:00 PM.