HAMPTON — Pauline Ely, 82, went to the great running road race in the sky on March 3, 2021. She was born Oct. 25, 1938, in Hampton to Neil George Bailey and Ruth Thompson Bailey, the third of four children. Pauline was preceded in death by her sister, Jean; and brother, Walter.
Pauline was and is “Always a Crabber,” having graduated from Hampton High School, Class of 1958, and was a member of the National Honor Society. Locals will remember her as the face behind the counter at Hampton Hobby House, which she owned along with her husband, Marty Leiss. Although they divorced, they continued to be friends and business partners until Marty’s death in November 1995. The store closed in 2000.
Pauline began running with her friend and eventual partner and husband, Mike Gontesky, in the evenings after she closed the store. In 1993, she decided to enter a 5k race. She was hooked. Her last race was in early 2020. She was a board member of the Peninsula Track Club for over 20 years, first as the volunteer coordinator, and then as it’s long-serving treasurer, before retiring from it in 2017. Pauline was inducted into the Virginia Peninsula Road Racing Hall of Fame in 2018. She was a member of the Peninsula Track Club, Colonial Road Runners, Tidewater Striders, Richmond Road Runners and North Carolina Road Runners Club. Her running awards were numerous, local, regional and national, including an age group first place at the San Diego Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon and one of her favorites, an age group first place at the April 2, 2005, Charlottesville 10-Miler.
Pauline and her husband Mike have been a couple since 1985 and were married in 1998. She is survived by him; sister, Emily of Niceville; sister-in-law, Thelma Gontesky of San Diego; and numerous nieces and nephews, including from the Leiss family. This includes Jack Cline Jr., and wife, Linda, Alan Cline, and wife, Tracy, Leslie Cline, and wife, Angi, Thomas Stroup, and wife, Angela, Donald Pritt, and wife, Dawn, Cathy Pritt and Leslie Pritt and John Kuehlthau Jr. Survivors of her adopted family include Natasha Gontesky, and husband, T.J. Koupal, of Minneapolis and Jacob Gontesky, and wife, Kelly; and granddaughters, Lula and Mae of Kansas City, Kansas.
Pauline loved and owned many cats and memorial contributions may be made in her memory to your local ASPCA. There will be no service or celebration of Pauline’s life at this time. The family plans to celebrate her life with relatives and friends at a gathering in the early fall.
Share online condolences with the family at R. Hayden Smith Funeral Home.
