Widow of slain elderly Hyde Park man speaks out.
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Always serving others and making sure food was available to those he came in contact with, Ralph Elliott’s life came to a halt on Christmas Eve while picking up food for a family celebration.
Elliott was gunned down during a robbery attempt outside Popeye’s near 47th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue.
“Everyone has lost in this tragedy. I’ve lost my husband of 54 years and the family has lost its head. This was a needless, senseless tragedy on the eve of Christ’s birth,” Delores Elliott, the man’s widow, told the Defender.
The 79-year-old Hyde Park resident spent time feeding the needy in the early days of Rainbow/PUSH – then known as Operation Breadbasket – and continued his work decades later, including the Feed the Hungry program at Metropolitan Community Church in Bronzeville.
Services for Elliott will be Saturday at Metropolitan Community Church, 4610 S. Prairie Ave. The family asks that instead of flowers, donations be made to the church’s food program for those in need.
Lee Cration, a convicted felon, was charged with first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery in Elliott’s death.
