Elaine Grossinger Etess Obituary

Obituary

Elaine Grossinger Etess, the third-generation Jewish proprietor of the famed Grossinger’s Catskill Resort Hotel, passed away on January 27, 2026, at the age of 98.

Etess, who died at her home in Florida, was the daughter of Jennie and Harry Grossinger, the couple who grew the resort from a small boarding house to a 35-building, 600-room luxury complex.

Inheriting the property along with her older brother Paul, Etess continued the resort’s legacy as the “Waldorf in the Catskills.” Grossinger’s served three kosher meals per day and provided top-tier entertainment and athletic activities. Many Jewish comedians and entertainers of the so-called Borscht Belt got their start at Grossinger’s, including Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar, Jackie Mason, and Joan Rivers. Jewish boxers also found a place to train there.

Born in 1927, Etess worked as a teenager as a “key girl” at the golf club and ran the resort switchboard. But she was initially set on finding a life outside the hotel industry.

She married her high school sweetheart, David Etess, in 1947, at her family’s resort. She planned to be a typical doctor’s wife and join the garden club while staying home with our children. The problem was that she was bored. So Etess increasingly took on more roles at the resort. One of her trademark additions to the resort was the expansion of youth activities and the creation of a children’s day camp.

As a celebrity hotspot, Grossinger’s was known as the place where Jewish actor and comedian Eddie Fisher was discovered. As Yom Kippur ended on Sep. 26, 1955, Fisher and actor Debbie Reynolds celebrated their wedding in the Etess house on the resort property.

Grossinger’s served as a refuge for non-Jews who were not permitted into or welcome at other resorts.

Jackie and Rachel Robinson found sanctuary from ugliness at Grossinger’s. The first black man to integrate Major League Baseball was able to escape the rabid bigotry he received from the fans in the stands, opposing players on the diamond, and even teammates in the clubhouse, when he and his wife would travel up to the mountains and share dinners with Elaine and her family.

When Jennie Grossinger, the heart and soul of Grossinger’s, died in 1972, Etess took over as hostess. In 1985, following a general decline in occupancy and a decline in Jewish vacationers to the resort, she and Paul sold Grossinger’s, after which she and David moved to South Florida. The property was demolished in 2018.

In 1989, Etess was elected the first woman president of the American Hotel and Motel Association (now called the American Hotel and Lodging Association). During her tenure as president, she was appointed to the U.S. President’s Committee on Employment of People With Disabilities, as well as the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee’s Travel and Tourism Industry Advisory Council.

Elaine and David had three children, Mark, Mitchell, and Susan. Mark and Mitchell continued in the hospitality industry, pivoting to the casino business. Mark died in a helicopter crash in 1989. David Etess died in 2008.

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