Elaine DePrince, mother of famous ballerina Michaela DePrince, died a day after her famous daughter, without knowing she had passed away.
She was 77 years old.
A mother of 12 children, many of them adopted, Elaine DePrince was an early advocate for the safety of blood products for hemophiliacs after three adopted sons, all with the bleeding disorder, died of AIDS contracted from HIV-contaminated clotting factor.
She died on Sept. 11 “during a routine procedure in preparation for surgery,” family spokeswoman Jess Volinski said in a social media post Saturday. She did not know that her daughter Michaela had died the day before at age 29.
“Michaela died before Elaine, and Elaine was unaware of Michaela’s death at the time of the surgery. Incredibly, the two deaths were unrelated,” Volinski wrote. “The only way to make sense of the senseless is that Elaine, who had already lost three children many years ago, was, by the grace of God, spared the pain of losing a fourth child.”
The cause of death for Michaela DePrince, who was born in Sierra Leone, West Africa, during the civil war, has not been released. She was orphaned at age 4. Adopted by Elaine DePrince after more than a year in an orphanage, Michaela proved herself, first as the youngest member of the Dance Theater of Harlem at age 18, and later as a principal soloist with the Boston Ballet.
Elaine DePrince died “after many years of battling a hereditary disease and heart failure,” her family wrote, adding that she is survived by her children Mia, Beelee, Jaye, Mariel, Amie and her two sons, Erik and Adam. “The family thanks you for giving them privacy during this very difficult time.”
With News Wire Services
