Elettra (Carolyn Gale Kidd)
Published 4:19 pm Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Born Carolyn Gale Kidd and known affectionately to local friends and family as Elettra, she was the daughter of J. Howard Kidd Jr. and Elizabeth Lyon Kidd, of Rochester, N.Y., and Tryon. Elettra was the eldest of Howard and Elzie Kidd&squo;s five children. Elettra made a sizable contribution to FENCE to build a barn in memory of her father who so loved Tryon and the Block House Steeplechase.
Elettra was also a generous benefactor of public television and radio, American Red Cross, Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy and the National Wildlife Federation, just to name a few of the organizations she loved and generously supported. She also made a significant contribution to the Mote Museum in Sarasota, Fla.
During her early years, Elettra and her family lived at 1100 Park Avenue in Rochester, N.Y., and later, around 1938, at &dquo;Our Farm&dquo; located at 1209 Bay Road in Webster, N,Y. The farm is where she developed her love of horses and became very successful competing her horse &dquo;Wonder Fashion.&dquo; She joined the Genesee Valley Hunt and continued riding and enjoying the beautiful countryside and companionship of the other riders in the hunt. One of those riders was Dr. Edward T. Mulligan, whom she later married.
Elettra attended the Columbia School in Rochester, N.Y., for elementary school, and graduated from the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. She continued her education at The Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan.
In addition to her love of horse sports, she was an accomplished artist and art historian. Much of her work was in oil painting, and later she began weaving. She brought her wonderful sense of color to both these pursuits. She entered some of her works in competitions and won the Silver Shuttle award at the Rochester Art Gallery. She also wove material for sport jackets, skirts, vests etc&ellip; for family and friends.
After her divorce from Dr. Mulligan, she moved to Taormina, Sicily, and became fluent in Italian. There she became accomplished in knitting. She could knit a beautiful sweater in a day! The sweaters would be one-of-a-kind, and some would even have pictorial scenes on them. These were sold to tourists who were visiting this beautiful part of the world.
Before moving to Tryon, she spent a little time in Granada. She might have stayed longer, but political unrest there brought her back to the U.S.A.
Always looking for new challenges, she designed her own home on Hogback Mountain, in Tryon, next door to her parents&squo; home on Carolina Drive. There she continued with her art work and began her next venture as owner and operator of Elettra&squo;s (a restaurant) and Blue Grotto Pub on Trade Street in Tryon.
She purchased &dquo;Song Hill&dquo; in Landrum in 1984 and designed and built three residences on the 68-acre property overlooking Lake Lanier. She lost the last home she designed and resided in for more than 15 years to a devastating fire in 2004, barely escaping with her life. She lost everything including some priceless heirlooms, cultural history and original artwork. Following the fire she resided in &dquo;Breezeway,&dquo; one of the other two residences on the property, until her death.
Elettra is survived by one son, Baron David Newlin and his wife Susan of Green Creek, three grandchildren; Stewart Newlin Cameron (Cliff) of Denver, N.C., Barclay Newlin of Green Creek, and Larsen Newlin Dunn (John) of Landrum, and one great grandson, Clifford Coble Cameron of Denver, N.C. She is also survived by brothers James Howard Kidd III (Sharyl) of Brockville, Ontario and Yalaha, Fla., and Edmund Kidd of Pittsford, N.Y.; sisters Anne K. Hutchinson of Bend, Ore., and Elzabeth K. Miner (Ranny) of Hugo, Minn., and North Haven, Me.; three nieces, seven nephews, six great-nieces and eight great-nephews. And lastly she is survived by her loving puppies Nera and Silky.
There will be a &dquo;Celebration of Elettra&squo;s Life&dquo; at a date to be determined.
The family thanks all the wonderful caregivers at St. Luke&squo;s Hospital, Hospice of the Carolinas, Community Health Services, White Oak Manor Rehabilitation and Pro Fitness of Columbus.