Elaine Vial's Obituary
Claire "Elaine" Eastland Vial passed away peacefully on May 18, 2021 after a long battle with Alzheimer's. Elaine was born April 17, 1931 in Hillsboro, Texas and grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas the baby sister of older brothers Ben and Newell, and the only daughter of Orville William and Claire "Lady" Edrington Eastland. She graduated high school at St. Mary's Hall in San Antonio, and college at Ward-Belmont College in Nashville and Southern Methodist University in Dallas, the latter with a B.A. degree in history and where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority. After her graduation from SMU, she worked for Neiman Marcus modeling and running fashion shows with famous fashion icons Kim Dawson, Lester Melnick and Bud Knight. On December 29th,1954, she married attorney Robert Gray Vial and settled down in North Dallas. She was active in many clubs and social and charitable organizations including the Dallas Women's Club, Dallas Garden Club, Les Femmes Du Monde, Crystal Charity, Heritage Club, Northwood Club, Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Association and the parents' clubs for St. Mark's School of Texas and Hockaday. Elaine is survived by her son Crist (Liz) Vial of Dallas, her daughter Joci (John) Bryant of Atlanta, GA, grandsons Robert Davis and Gray Davis of Dallas, nieces Paige (Jim) Dinn of Corpus Christi, TX and Gail Siller of San Antonio, TX and nephew Gill (Andrea) Eastland of San Antonio, TX, plus many other nieces and nephews in South Carolina. She was preceded in death by her parents and brothers, her husband, and her daughters, Helaina Vial Meara and Laurie Vial Davis. There will be a private burial ceremony and memorial tribute celebration of life scheduled for family and friends to attend in the Fall. In lieu of flowers, she would have preferred any donations to be made in support of wildlife or animals of any sort.
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