Elaine was born at home in Canmore in 1937 to Martin and Rose Klimek. She attended school in Canmore and skated and curled in the old Canmore rinks. In 1954, she married Ozzie Spagis. She worked for a time at the Canmore Lumber Yard. Elaine also worked at the Banff School of Fine Arts and taught Brownies with Aina Miltins. Her daughter, Melanie, was born in 1955 in the old Canmore Hospital and four years later (1959) her son, Gerry, was also born there. Melanie and Gerry attended school in Canmore until the family moved to Creston, B.C., in 1969.
In Canmore Seniors at the Summit, ed. Canmore Seniors Association, 2000, p. 146-147.