Elsi Stotts enjoys traveling, hiking and happy hours
Published in the November 25 – December 8, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Robert Airoldi
Photo by Robert Airoldi
Elsi Stotts relaxes in the backyard of her home that has a panoramic view of the South Valley floor and the western mountains. She keeps active at libraries and by traveling.
Elsi Stotts has finally settled down. The 77-year-old retired librarian — who turns 78 Nov. 26 — has lived in more than a dozen cities, some more than once, and has owned nine homes. But four years ago she moved to Morgan Hill and has settled on a 56-acre ranch her son John and his wife Sophia own in the east Morgan Hill foothills.
“I’ve bounced around a lot,” she said. “I love it here. I love the ranch. I spend as much time as I can outside here and love to hike around the property. I’m always busy.”
The petite woman was born in Pennsylvania and has lived in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Santa Clara, Cupertino, New Jersey, Florida, Arizona, San Jose and now Morgan Hill.
Stotts earned a degree in psychology at Mount Vernon College in Ohio and a Masters in Library and Information Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh. She spent her entire career working in public and university libraries, including a stint at the Washington D.C. Public Library and at the University of Maryland as an administrator. She also worked at the Stanford Library as the head of human resources overseeing 350 employees and 500 to 600 student employees.
“I’ve quit a lot of jobs I shouldn’t have quit,” said Stotts, who has five grandchildren ages 3 to 15.
She resigned from Stanford and took a “metaphysical journey” back to the East Coast and taught classes and counseled students in New Jersey and Maryland.
When came back to the West Coast she worked as the assistant director at the Sunnyvale Public Library and later moved to San Jose and helped plan and manage the new Martin Luther King Library on the San Jose State University campus.
Stotts lives on her son John and his wife Sophia’s property which includes two other homes. John’s mother-in-law Nina lives in a second and John’s general manager at Prism Electronics, in the third.
The horse ranch, located just up the hill from where two of the homes sit, includes a huge covered arena with stables on either side.
Her other son Tim lives in Fremont and has one daughter. John and Sophia have four children. The family loves to travel, and when John and Sophia take a vacation, they often bring along Elsi and Nina. Elsi has traveled extensively and has been to China, where she volunteered at Seoul National University for four months, visited Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, Canada, Mexico and Venezuela, to name just a few.
Now divorced, she works part time at the Los Gatos and Morgan Hill libraries as a reference librarian half days about two to five days a month.
“It keeps my brain alive and I like helping the people,” said Stotts, who retired in 2004. “Plus, I can still do it.”
When she’s not working, traveling, hiking, visiting with friends or working out, Stotts — who does not like cooking for one — enjoys happy hours at various restaurants.
“I like 88 Keys Cafe, Huntington Station — I like Dan and the crew who work there, Ladera — I like visiting (bartender) Cindy — and I often have lunch with my son.”
Her hobbies include collecting coins, gardening, and hiking, and her part time work. “That’s kind of like a hobby,” she said.
Her only ailment is that she suffers from vocal cord tremors that make her voice hoarse and raspy, sort of like the 1950s Hollywood star Lauren Bacall. She’s tried several remedies, but to date none have really solved the problem. It’s gotten worse in the past three years, but it doesn’t stop her.
“I’ve had an adventurous life and I’m very happy,” she said.
