Husband
Elspeth’s husband, Antonio Marques, is originally from Portugal—the European country closest to the United States.
To grew up in a small farm village near the Douro River. He has loved and admired the United States since he learned fluent English by watching Westerns as a child.
Although he was his town’s best student, his family did not have the means to pursue college. Instead, To became a steel worker and went on to manage construction teams. He’s loved NASA since he was a kid and follows SpaceX closely; he hopes to someday have the opportunity to pursue a degree in astrophysics.
After two years here, he’s already developing a Southern accent.
Children
To and Elspeth were married shortly before SC’s Fetal Heartbeat bill was passed. In response to that legislation, the ob-gyn at Elspeth’s usual doctor’s office promptly resigned and left the state. Many did, making an already-existing shortage worse.
The couple were forced to choose between staying near her parents (pictured up top, now age 70+) to help out when health issues arise, or having safe & healthy children. However, the fifth commandment decided that issue.
Government interference into the most basic right of any family means our country will need more immigrant workers to replace at least one U.S. founding family.
Pets
The couple adopted a kitten who was hit by a car in front of their home—Teach, named after the real Carolinian pirate Blackbeard (Edward Teach.)
They also foster giant-breed dogs to honor the memory of Elspeth’s service animal, Gwyneira.
Because of their experience with Gwyn, a Great Pyrenees who chased off deer and feral pigs alike, the couple have a plan to help American farmers. A similar program in Portugal has helped the endangered Iberian wolf recover, while reducing or eliminating farmer losses.
Elspeth’s thirteen-year-old white Lab named Aurora is still enjoying retirement.
Most years, Elspeth keeps honey bees for her garden and orchard.
Siblings
Elspeth has one younger sister who followed in Elspeth’s footsteps at Rutgers, also pursued a PhD in biology, and became involved in biotech portfolio evaluation.
Unlike Elspeth, she was able to continue her career from there.
She blazed a trail through Wall Street and has founded several companies. In response to both their parents being diagnosed with cancer, she began to help effective new cancer treatments reach the public market.
In the first year of two of her career, her sister negotiated a raise for the entire floor at her workplace. You can expect similar leadership from Elspeth, who herself negotiated a salary increase for her department at Clemson shortly before the first paralysis.
Father
Elspeth’s father has written, researched, and taught health policy for most of his career.
He spent a decade at the SC legislature as Director of Research for the Joint Legislative Health Care Planning and Oversight Committee. Afterward, he worked at USC and MUSC as Director of various health policy programs.
He has tried to retire twice, but is already back for round three at USC’s Center for Applied Research & Evaluation.
Elspeth’s paternal grandparents were a Colonel in the U.S. Army and a superwoman who raised a dozen children almost single-handedly, while practically running her church.
The Colonel was an immigrant from Scotland, so Elspeth and her sister were given Gaelic names to honor that heritage. Her grandmother’s family was originally from Bavaria, Germany.
Mother
Elspeth’s mother is an entrepreneur who has owned her own architectural firm for several decades. She holds an additional master’s degree in psychology, attended Smith University and Columbia University (NYC), and has taught workshops for Clemson and USC.
As a business-owner, she achieved lasting success while treating the health and happiness of her employees as a top priority. She has lead innumerable local- and state-level government projects.
She is the definition of an extrovert with a habit of constantly volunteering for church while somehow finding time for book clubs (and work.)
Elspeth’s grandfather was a civil engineer on the Navy hospital ship SS Hope, who spent his career at NIH and helped invent the artificial heart and lung machine. Her grandmother worked as code-breaker during WWII. Elspeth inherited her great-great-grandmother’s violin when the talent reappeared in the family, and enjoys playing bluegrass and Celtic fiddle.
Elspeth’s lineage traces back to the Mayflower through her mother. One of the passengers of that ship, Peter Browne, had a daughter called Rebecca who married William Snow. The family descends directly from that paternal line, which includes a father-son pair who fought for the U.S. during the Revolutionary War.
Other
At last count, Elspeth had over one-hundred cousins, most of whom she saw several times a year before she became sick.
All children on both sides of the family were taught to play cards from a very early age. Several women have achieved minor fame at bridge.
Cards were the foundation for Elspeth’s recovery of her analytical ability, but both she and her husband oppose gambling, treating cards as a game which should be enjoyed for only socialization.
Elspeth was raised within a service-oriented family where everyone learns to lead from the front. Her kin place high value on education and faith alike, and believe all privileges entrusted to them must be used to benefit others.
A large, tight-knit clan allows Elspeth to call upon trustworthy, high-level expertise in almost every field imaginable—provided by people who are invested in her success, as well as honest and direct.
While her family’s accomplishments are not her own, they are representative of what she expects herself to achieve.