WINTHROP – Elaine Ault, 91, died peacefully at home on Wednesday, March 10, 2021, with her daughter near. Born in New Gloucester on Sept. 15, 1929, the second child of Harvey Tufts and Nellie (Snow) Tufts, Elaine, attended local schools.

She loved music, playing guitar and piano, as well as singing. Elaine’s sister, Dorothy “Dot”, also played piano and was the organist at the New Gloucester Congregational Church for many years. Elaine grew up in a loving family and a close-knit farming community with many extended family members nearby. She adored her Scottie dog, Patsy, named after Patsy Cline.

Elaine earned her degree in Education from Farmington State Teachers’ College in 1951. In 1950 she met John Ault of Wayne at a Legion Hall dance in Farmington, where she was known as “the lady in red.” She and John both loved to dance and, according to Elaine, she “presented herself to him,” and they married in 1951. A former U.S. Marine active in WWII, John rejoined the military as a U.S. Army Signal Corps member. Elaine accompanied him first to Augusta, Ga., and then to his station in San Luis Obispo, Calif., until his discharge in 1954. The couple moved to Brighton and then Brockton, Mass. Elaine gave birth to Brian in 1955 and Julie in 1957.

Living in the Boston area, Elaine loved the cultural opportunities, going to movies, dance performances and plays, and visiting museums. She especially enjoyed the Boston Common at Christmas when every tree was adorned with colored lights. She was obsessed with Peter O’Toole and saw Lawrence of Arabia seventeen times in the local theater. Elaine studied acting and took consciousness-raising training in Boston. Her mother, sister, and beloved Aunt Jo delighted in visiting annually to see the Boston flower show. Elaine worked at the local health store. During this period, she deepened her interest in nutrition, holistic health, the healing properties of herbs, flower essences, stones, and colors, extrasensory perception (ESP), and new age studies, which she would develop and practice throughout her life.

In 1969 the Ault family moved to Winthrop, Maine, where John and Elaine resided until their passing. Elaine taught Home Economics at Winthrop High School from 1970 to 1981. Besides teaching traditional skills, she held a popular cooking class for boys called “Batch-It.” Bringing her unique interests into the classroom, she threw in some dream interpretation and a bit of life coaching to the students’ delight and school officials’ dismay. After she left formal teaching she was glad to pursue her true calling.

Elaine was clairvoyant, read tarot cards, and used a pendulum to channel guidance for people who consulted her. She could tune into people she never met. She did readings in her home for many years and later by phone and correspondence, and in the Starbucks at Barnes and Noble in Augusta, where she and John visited almost daily for over 15 years.

Her openness, warmth, and ability to connect were immediate. Spiritual guidance and life mentoring were a constant in her many friendships and exchanges. She provided counsel and comfort for many who depended on her psychic skills and precious advisement, some over decades.

Elaine refrained from practicality and analytic modes in favor of imagination and insight. As psychic and spiritual pursuits increasingly dominated her daily life, she avoided contemporary culture and politics as well as anything she deemed “negative,” from the evening news to depictions of violence to judgmental thought. She sought to keep her mind clear and pure to tune in, listen keenly, and respond with sincerity. “She listened with her heart.” She had an uncanny capacity for depth and wisdom beyond her lived experience, which she expressed with clarity. Elaine was warmth and generosity personified—an uplifting spirit to everyone she encountered.

Elaine was an enchanting free spirit who hated to be boxed in or judged. She eschewed formality and organized groups in favor of her ever-growing organic circle of intimacies. She had many deep bonds, multiple “best friends,” and countless closenesses.

Gift-giving was a significant part of Elaine’s language. She delighted in finding inspired gifts, beautiful images—sparkling cards, and channeling symbols and messages for her friends and family. She loved sitting by the window at her reading table to “have breakfast with the birds.” Keeping the bird feeders full and remembering birthdays were more important than any practical or pressing task.

Elaine’s imagination imbued the magical environment she created. Her home was like a jewel box with sapphire, topaz, ruby, amethyst, and citrine rooms, adorned by an array of angels. There was something beautiful and sparkling wherever one looked. Layers, piles, and arrangements of shimmering images and objects—personal treasures: glittering hummingbirds, flowers, fabrics, butterflies, crystals, stones, stars, jewelry arranged on tables and in corners instead of worn.

Elaine was a knock-out beauty, known for her vivid deep red hair that she religiously maintained with henna in later years. She loved vibrant health and beauty as well as (natural) beauty products. But her glamor and glow truly emanated from inside. She loved Paris, although she never visited except in her imagination. Elaine’s optimistic worldview served her well. She felt and looked much younger than her years—the result of a lifelong commitment to joy. She was healthy until the last year of her life.

Elaine’s parents, Harvey and Nellie, her sister Dot, and her husband John, preceded Elaine’s passing. She is survived by her son Brian, daughter Julie, many cousins, nieces and nephews, brothers-in-law and a sister-in-law, and an abundance of dear friends and intimates. As one friend said, she was “magical and a dear friend of so many. No need to say Rest In Peace.” Elaine was always at peace.

An outdoor celebration of Elaine’s life is being planned and will be held later this summer at a place and time to be announced.

Arrangements are in the care of Roberts Funeral Home, 62 Bowdoin St., Winthrop where condolences to the family may be shared on the obituary page of the website at http://www.familyfirstfuneralhomes.com