Elisa Del Tatto Roby
Community Spirit Personified
by Joyce Tepley
The first thing you notice about Elisa is the excitement in her voice as she talks about her growing involvement in our neighborhood. In only two years since she and her husband, Mark, their thirteen year old son, Cross, and their toddler, Henry, moved into their Ranch style home on Peter Pan Elisa organized an antique car show, participated in getting neighbors on her street to regularly meet with their children at Peter Pan Park, spearheaded a National Night Out party, and became the newest member of the Homeowners Board taking on the responsibility of monitoring our Facebook page. Whew! Such energy!
She has the time now as a stay at home mom after working in the oil industry since graduating from the University of Houston. When asked about her pension for involvement she simply said, “I like to volunteer.”
Born in Brazil, Elisa was adopted as a baby by a couple from the United States who moved to Houston in 1980. Her adoptive father was working in Brazil in the oil industry at that time. She was their third adopted child following two fraternal twin brothers from Canada. They were eleven when Elisa joined the family so one of the brothers was more like a father figure to her. She had more in common with the other brother as they would run marathons together. He has two boys and both brothers live in Houston. Elisa’s mother was the definition of the perfect mother, instilling in her the love of home cooking.
Elisa met Mark in 2004 through an email discussion. She was twenty-six years old. They married four years later and moved to the Dallas area. He grew up in the Park Cities and went to Texas Christian University. He started his career in finance and is now Director of Technology at a marketing company. They first chose Coppell because of its excellent public school system. The elementary school was a great choice for Cross attending from kindergarten to fifth grade. Elisa described him as “the perfect child.” In 2012 they were surprised when Elisa became pregnant with Henry. It was time to look for another house and area that offered great schools and a strong community spirit like the one she had in Coppell.
The house in Coppell sold quickly so their hunt for a new home in Dallas was ramped up. They searched in both the St. Rita and St. Monica area but when the Peter Pan house was listed, they jumped as fast as they could and gratefully got the house, moving in on the first day of 6th grade at St. Monica, confirming that it was meant to be. With conviction Elisa said, “I can see myself living here the rest of my life. Not only is the Peter Pan house perfect for our family, it is nestled in the perfect neighborhood. We could not ask for anything more!”
Growing up with role models of civic responsibility, Elisa’s parents were always involved in their neighborhood events. Elisa proudly stated, “They still give back to the community. I have ten neighbors I can call on if anything happened to me or my family.”
We welcome Elisa as our newest Homeowner’s Board Member and thank her for all she is doing to contribute her enthusiastic talents for organizing fun events that bring neighbors together to support each other. That’s what our Walnut Hill neighborhood is all about: caring and supporting each other.
October 2016
