Elaine Barbara Niebaum, 70, Mother, Volunteer, Human Services Employee

Elaine Barbara Niebaum (nee Schroeder) (Trapp), a dedicated Brecksville volunteer and former Human Services employee, died earlier this week at the age of 70.

Niebaum didn’t have to work after she retired from Allstate Insurance, but when the opportunity to work part-time with the department arose, she took it gladly, said her husband, Bob Niebaum. She enjoyed working with the employees, the hundreds of volunteers and the citizens the department served.

During her 11 years with the department, Niebaum helped run the and the Salvation Army unit.

She was also involved in a variety of community organizations, most recently the Brecksville Bicentennial Committee. Niebaum was the co-chair of the committee for the . Even though she was undergoing treatment for cancer, her husband said she worked hard to make the evening memorable.

“She was a person that everyone loved, and it was hard to love her enough,” Bob Niebaum said, “because no matter how much you loved her, she loved you back more.”

The Niebaums were married for 34 years, and they’ve lived in Brecksville since 1989. In her personal life, Niebaum loved gardening, reading, golfing and tole painting. She also cherished her family and friends, her husband said.

There will be a memorial service for Niebaum at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday at her church, St. Basil the Great. Bob Niebaum said that if people would like to make a donation in her memory, they can do so to St. Basil or, since she was an avid reader, to the Friends of the Brecksville Library.

Niebaum leaves behind two children, Russell Lee Trapp, Jr. (Tatyana) of Anthem, Arizona, and Sharon Marie Cech of Westlake, and five grandchildren, Yelizavetta, Yelena, Yekaterina, Emily and Erica. She had also been married to Russell Lee Trapp, who is deceased.

She is the daughter of Francis X., who is deceased, and Tillie of Phoenix, Arizona. She is the sister of Jackie Lomardo (Joe) of Fountain Hills, Arizona, Richard (Bonnie) of Scottsdale, Arizona, Carol Torda (Jeff) of Garrettsville, and William (Angie) of Peoria, Arizona.

Services are being arranged by Faulhaber Funeral Home, which provided some of the information above. There are more details on the funeral home’s website, along with ways to leave a message for her family.