Leticia Elias, owner of Elias Commercial Roof Systems, died December 11. 2019, after a 15-month struggle with cancer. She had just turned 49 years old. She is survived by her 13-year-old son, Andrew, her parents and three siblings. Her life, particularly for the past twenty years has been a model of grit and guts, the hallmark traits of the most successful contractors.
She was born into the roofing business, and from an early age accompanied her father to jobsites. These early experiences inspired her lifelong love of a difficult and dirty part of construction. She relished climbing on any roof and did it routinely all her life before bidding. (It was when her leg began to ache while climbing and then broke, that her cancer was discovered.) She worked part time while gaining a finance degree at the University of Houston. Her education added a significant sophistication to this small family company.
All her life, she knew both the blessings and the burdens of a family business. She married and moved to Connecticut; her husband was a financial analyst on Wall Street. However, shortly after Andrew was born, she felt compelled to commute to Houston weekly to help her father continue the business after her brother struck out on his own. She soon recognized the survival of Elias roofing required her full-time, intense, hands-on focus. She relocated back to Houston and soon was a single mom.
The last twenty years, when I have been privileged to be her sounding board and confidant, have been a repetitive dance of struggle, stumble, and succeed enough to survive. She took many punches from this tough business; they flattened her on several occasions but never knocked her completely out. She always got back in the ring – wiser, more spirited, remarkably resilient. True grit and guts.
She was a perpetual learner and generous giver, even during her toughest periods. She sought advice over many years from Josena Arquieta, a successful businessperson who was a mentor and friend. They met in the Women Contractors Association. Elias was selected for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 small businesses entrepreneurs’ program. She served in many leadership roles with both the local and state roofing associations, and whenever finances would allow, she attended The National Roofers Association for their education programs. She had every type of manufacturers certification or license the industry offers, a source of great pride.
Elias also served the commercial construction industry in Houston in the formative years of the city’s Prevailing Wage and Minority and Women Business Ordinances. She gave articulate and impactful testimony before the city council. Even though she was young and shaking like a leaf, she gutted up and stated her support for the industry’s consensus position with force and clarity. It helped every commercial contractor that does city work. Her integrity was stellar too. When she hired a salesperson who had previously worked for a major general contractor, she learned the lady had filched a confidential list of her former employer’s clients. Leticia commandeered it and returned it to some grateful senior executives, demonstrating the very best qualities of the classy people who make up the commercial construction industry in Houston.
She returned to work with her artificial femur, necessitating a walker, and continued to take her chemotherapy treatments, which destroyed her kidney function, requiring three, four-hour dialysis sessions per week. It was another hard punch, but she continued to strive to finish her jobs and wind things down. In a few months however, the knockout blow came: the aggressive cancer was now in her lung and on her aorta. She faced the emerging reality with classic courage. Her mother’s worries for Andrew’s future were significantly eased by the noble, character-laden actions of her former husband, Kevin Clougherty, who has remained very close to his son. Kevin moved here so Andrew could continue school and spend daily time with his mom, whether she was home or hospitalized. He also assured her of Andrew’s future care and education, which his resources will easily enable. His admirable behavior is vivid proof of the statement, “character is not developed in a crisis, it is demonstrated.”
I visited her hospital room the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The Palliative Care Doctor was briefing her on her medications. I sensed the situation. (Palliative Care Physicians join the care team when the road ahead runs only one way.) Her lifelong friend Andrea Rena and Rena’s husband, Thomas – her tremendous support team – entered as the doctor exited. Letitia, bravely, stated the facts. There were two options: suspend all treatment and it would be days or weeks at best; continue treatment and maybe it could be months. We three visitors sat in numbed silence, digesting these difficult choices. Andrea then resolutely and lovingly asked the only appropriate question, one reflecting her deep friendship and profound faith. “Then tell me, Lety, how should I pray?”
The grit to persist no matter what; the courage to overcome any challenge, and the character to maintain integrity in all situations are the hallmarks of the great people who founded the premier commercial building companies in Houston. They are characteristics of our “best of breed.” They were also the signatures of the remarkable young Latina, Leticia Elias. She deserves our appreciation, our admiration, and our remembrance.
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The grit to persist no matter what; the courage to overcome any challenge, and the character to maintain integrity in all situations are the hallmarks of the great people who founded the premier commercial building companies in Houston.…They were also the signatures of the remarkable young Latina, Leticia Elias. She deserves our appreciation, our admiration, and our remembrance.
