ELAINE EFFORT worked at KQV Radio for 38 consecutive years, retiring in 2017. (Photo by J.L. Martello)
Loved her family, church, PBMF and the Girl Scouts organization
The year 1977 was a wonderful year, as Edmund Effort, D.D.S., tells it.
“I graduated from dental school, I got married, and then we joined the Air Force,” Effort said.
Dr. Effort and the love of his life, his wife Elaine Effort, who he met four years prior at the University of Michigan, hopped on a plane and left for the U.S. Air Force Base in Alconbury, England, about 80 miles north of London.
A dentist in the Air Force, Edmund Effort had a good salary, 30 days vacation per year, free health care and free housing. Thus, together, Edmund and Elaine Effort traveled the world. They would look at a map, or read about a particular place, “throw a dart at it,” and just go, Edmund Effort told the New Pittsburgh Courier. Holland. France. Germany. Spain. Israel. And more.
“We went to the River Jordan, Dome of the Rock (Shrine in Jerusalem), the city of Nazareth, Tel Aviv, Bethlehem,” Edmund Effort told the Courier. “We swam in the Dead Sea.”
By 1981, the Efforts returned to the States, and Elaine Effort was offered her job back as a reporter for KQV Radio, which, by then, was entrenched as an all-news station.
That’s right. Elaine Effort took a job at KQV Radio in Pittsburgh in 1973. But she left the job in 1977 to join her husband, Edmund, overseas.
“Nobody quits their job to go do something like that,” Edmund Effort said. “She chose to come go with me. She was in love with me as much as I was in love with her. Through thick and thin, health and happiness. That’s what we did.”
ELAINE AND EDMUND EFFORT
Elaine Effort, who became one of the most influential journalists and media figures in Pittsburgh and who also was a founding member of the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation in 1973, died suddenly in the early morning hours of Nov. 6. She was 74.
She was so beloved that the City of Pittsburgh declared Dec. 28, 2017, as “Elaine Effort Day” in the City of Pittsburgh, as she retired from KQV the same year.
In a release, the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation said Elaine Effort served in various leadership roles, including as vice president, secretary and treasurer.
“Her insights, compassion, and leadership in running a nonprofit helped the organization to always move forward,” read part of the PBMF release.
Elaine Effort would lend her time and knowledge to high school students for decades during PBMF’s Frank Bolden Urban Journalism Workshop. That’s where current PBMF President Deborah Todd first met Elaine Effort.
“She was incredible with young people,” Todd said in the PBMF news release. “She was patient and kind, but she was also strict and held us accountable to doing our best and preparing us to be capable journalists. I admired and respected her.”
Elaine Effort was born, July 21, 1950, in Detroit, to the late Evelyn and Vurnol Leaphart. Elaine Effort earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and Master of Arts in journalism, both from the University of Michigan. While a graduate student in Ann Arbor, Elaine Effort’s roommate told her about this “nice young man from Chicago at the dental school,” who was Edmund Effort.
“It was love at first sight,” Edmund Effort said of Elaine Effort.
The two were married, Sept. 24, 1977, at Heinz Memorial Chapel in Pittsburgh with the late Rev. Loran Mann as the officiator.
As a reporter with KQV, she covered thousands of events, interviewed thousands of people, and held countless public officials to account. She was awarded numerous Golden Quills from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania, as well as numerous awards from PBMF. She was the host of “Pittsburgh Profiles,” which placed the spotlight on newsmakers and changemakers in the Pittsburgh region, many of whom were Black. Advertisements for “Pittsburgh Profiles” with Elaine Effort’s photo were placed in the Courier for years.
Elaine Effort also hosted a show called, “In Focus” on WPGH-TV (53) and was a substitute host for Chris Moore on WQED’s “Black Horizons.”
Elaine Effort was also a woman of faith, as a former member of Holy Cross Episcopal Church and a member of Calvary Episcopal Church until her passing. As a lay reader and eucharistic minister, she would often serve communion to those who were sick and shut in. Her daughter, April Eugene, said her mother was very active in the church.
Elaine Effort also had another passion—Girl Scouts. Elaine Effort was a Girl Scout Troop Leader for 37 years, including being the troop leader for April Eugene and a co-leader for her granddaughter Hannah Eugene’s troop. Elaine Effort helped at least 10 girls earn the Gold Award, which is the highest award that Senior and Ambassador Girl Scouts can earn. She also helped numerous girls earn Silver and Bronze awards, too.
One of the girls in Elaine Effort’s troop was Flojaune Griffin. In 1994, when Griffin was 11, her father died, which put a stress unlike no other on Griffin and her family.
“My mom was devastated, and I was taking on a lot of adult roles, trying to hold things together,” Griffin told the Courier. “But the first time I felt like a kid again is when Miss Elaine came by and took me for ice cream. That’s the type of person that she was. She knew how to speak life into you when you needed it, and it came from such a loving and caring place. She was the person who would provide guidance, provide structure, re-direction, and tell you that she was excited for you…but also that she was disappointed in you because she expected better.”
Elaine Effort was the mother to Edmundson Effort and April Eugene, as well as a grandmother of two, Hannah Eugene and Haniya Eugene. She is also survived by her sister, Erma Leaphart, and son-in-law, Hansy Eugene.
April Eugene referred to her mother as “simply the best,” while Edmundson Effort called his mother “a champion of truth.”
(Editor’s note: The family will receive friends, Sunday, Nov. 17, from 2 to 6 p.m. at Calvary Episcopal Church, 315 Shady Ave., and homegoing services on Monday, Nov. 18, at 11 a.m. Internment will be at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies, Bridgeville.)
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