Elly Abelson

Husband. Father. Mensch.
This past Sunday, March 9, 2025, surrounded by his family, Elly Abelson passed away. Elias lived a full and robust 92 years. In that time, both professionally and personally, he had a profound impact on countless people in all different facets of his life. His true passions were his family, and his deep love of music and its healing and emotional power.
He is survived by his loving wife of 67 years, Isobel, his sons, Adam, Joshua, and Matthew, his brother Seth and sister-in-law Teddy. He is severely missed by his family.
Elias Abelson, Esq., became an assistant attorney general in New Jersey when he was one of three state-wide. For almost 30 years he loved his work and the ability to affect change for the better, for the people of NJ and at times a broader constituency. He was known for his sharp intellect, steadfast integrity, and wicked sense of humor. He made laws. His briefs were argued in the U.S. Supreme Court. At times he was acting Attorney General for NJ. After retiring from the State, he spent 10 years as General Counsel at Bucknell University. One thing he was particularly proud of was reinvigorating Jewish life on campus. When he left the Bucknell community, Jewish life was thriving and as a result of his efforts, there is now an endowed chair for Jewish Studies. He approached life with a brilliant mind that could assess myriad positions on an issue, and distill it down to something everyone could digest.
Prior to attending law school at Columbia, he served stateside in the Army during the Korean conflict. During that time, he acted as defense counsel for accused soldiers at Fort Lee. It was a pivotal experience that pointed him towards being an attorney. He had some really great stories from his time in the service, something we never tired of hearing.
Isobel and Elly Abelson were married in 1957. They raised three sons; he was a stand-up husband, father, and example, and I know, if he were here, he'd be shaking his head."a semi-colon, really Adam?" If he liked you and you liked him, you become friends for life. He loved his family and embraced, as we mostly did, his personal pursuits. As Matthew mentioned a couple days ago, dad didn't have hobbies he had passions. His family, lsobel and his sons, were his first love. Music and humor informed every fiber of his being.
He threw himself into doing activities he enjoyed. He learned to play fretless clawhammer banjo early on. In his 40's he changed his means of torturing us by learned to play violin, playing both chamber music and Scottish fiddle. Within a few years, it sounded like actual music, something he continued to play until his hands wouldn't let him, well into his eighties. In truth, Elly was a good musician, playing not only banjo and violin, but also guitar. He learned to build violins in his 50's, something he continued into retirement, until he couldn't see the exacting detail required. He wrote aires in a Celtic style that were lovely to listen to.
In addition to his love of music and the love he had for his family, he threw himself fully into those other passions. He was a photographer with a darkroom. He was an astronomer with a five foot long telescope in the back yard. He loved Sherlock Homes and was a "Baker Street Irregular." He liked to sail our little boat on Lake Carnegie, each time taking one of his sons. A voracious reader, he loved to share the titles of the books or articles he found interesting, and he loved intelligent discourse, related or not. He would make up characters and spin them into bedtime stories for his children. We all went, as a family, to folk music festivals. One of Dad's true pleasures was having Josh visit and cook for him when mom was away. Dad loved animals, especially the cats he and mom lived with over the years.
Most of all Elly loved learning, teaching, and making people laugh with him. Hard. Until it hurt. His was a life and fatherhood well lived.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks if you wish to make a donation in his name, please give generously to an elementary school music program in your community.