Elisa Hahl Harwick-Sadoian was born in the Viipuri Province in Finland on September 10, 1939. She was a VERY PROUD "Finn" as she called herself! Blue was her favorite color, because the flag in Finland is blue. Elisa spoke 7 languages and she conversed in Finnish perfectly until her last day on earth. Elisa always looked forward to her vacations in Finland, and she came back home to Las Vegas rejuvenated!

Education was extremely important to Elisa. She earned her degree in Languages from Finland University in Helsinki. She then earned her Master's Degree in Psychology from Ball State University in Indiana. Elisa became a Psychologist/Therapist and gratefully, helped countless people in Las Vegas improve their lives, and happily provided pro bono work for those who needed it, throughout her entire career! She was eager to go to her office every day, but never called it work because to Elisa, it was always her pleasure.

Elisa had two sons, George (Tad) and Jim Harwick, who she loved and adored. Elisa put her boys through college and was very proud of them and their careers. Jim gave Elisa a grand daughter named Milana. One of the greatest highlights of Elisa's life, was being able to attend Milana's college graduation.

September 6th was the utmost special day to Elisa. September 6 is her "Darlink" (as she always called him) Gene's birthday and September 6 is also Elisa and Gene's anniversary date!  They were happily married on September 6, 1999 in Las Vegas. The two of them adored and cherished each other for almost 26 fabulous years.

Elisa moved to Las Vegas in 1979. There she met Eugene (Gene) Sadoian and fell in love! Gene was a tall, handsome, Armenian man who shared Elisa's love of sports-cars, hot rods, race cars, you name it!   They were truly each-others' soulmates!  Both Gene and Elisa were famous at the car shows too! Elisa impressed everyone with her knowledge of the show cars! Gene adored her blonde hair and blue eyes and nice figure, posing next to HIS show cars!

Elisa was a very outgoing person and she loved and enjoyed people, sports, and racing. She was a competitive tennis player and improved her game by taking lessons from Andre Agassi's sister!  She played tennis well into her 70s. She also delighted in playing the piano, and like all Finns, she loved to swim.  She never missed a college football game and memorized all of the scores.  You might even hear a bad word, if her favorite team lost!  Elisa and Gene even attended UNLV basketball games together, to cheer on the Running Rebels!  She proudly wore her UNLV  t-shirts until her final days! Elisa's absolute favorite activity was spending time with her husband Gene, and proudly standing alongside Gene and his bright yellow Pantera, in the car shows. She craved excitement and lived life in the fast lane. Elisa had very little fear and lived her life to the fullest!

Elisa and Gene lived a beautiful, loving, long, exciting life together, full of love and affection. She couldn't do enough for him and he couldn't do enough for her. Gene always said that Elisa knew what he was thinking, before he even said it!

Elisa joyfully cooked his 3 meals a day, and on every Thanksgiving she entertained his entire family and their extended families for days!  She loved Gene's Armenian Apostolic church in Las Vegas, and convinced Gene to purchase a pillar when the church was being built. She also purchased a pew in the church along with Gene, in honor of Gene's parents. Elisa faithfully stood by Gene's side when he was not well and nursed him back to life. At almost 91 years old, Gene has been lovingly committed to nursing Elisa back to life, until her final days. Elisa eagerly waited until 4:00 every single day. She counted down the hours and minutes, while waiting for her Darlink to arrive at 4:00 each day. Both Elisa and Gene were so devoted to each other.  They always sweetly held hands and kissed each other hello and kissed each other good bye.

On August 8, 2025 Elisa left Gene's side on this earth. She was a strong believer and is now in Heaven with our Lord and Savior resting in peace. She will be missed by all, but this special lady will never be forgotten.

Graveside services will be on Saturday, August 16, 2025 at the Ararat Cemetery at 9:30 am.