Elka was born Doreen Ellen Nussbaum on December 17, 1956 in Geneva, Switzerland to Rudi and Laureen Nussbaum. Her parents were German Jews living in Amsterdam until Rudi, a physics professor, took a teaching position in Geneva for a year. At the end of that year, Rudi accepted a position at the University of California at Davis and decided to emigrate with his family of five to the United States. Sometime after moving to Davis, Rudi attended a conference in Portland, Oregon and found the climate and city much more to his and his family’s liking.  He took a physics professorship at Portland State University and moved his family to Oregon.  

          As Elka grew up, she abandoned the name Doreen in favor of Elka, which she felt better represented her unique identity.  Elka knew she wanted to be a teacher, so she attended Portland Community College for her associates degree in early childhood education and went on to get her education degree from Lewis and Clark College.  Elka taught early childhood education and kindergarten for 28 years before being diagnosed with breast cancer. 

         Unfortunately for Elka, the cancer that she had was very difficult to detect until later stages, and it had spread through her body by the time it was discovered at age 46. After diagnosis, her husband Richard told her about Dr. Ken Wizer, a naturopathic oncologist that he learned about from business associates. Elka took a dual approach to her cancer treatment by seeking Dr. Wizer’s care to prepare her body’s immune system for the ravages of surgery and chemo. Immediately after her initial surgery, Elka started her first set of six chemo treatments.  She concurrently took naturopathic remedies and recommended smoothies that alleviated a number of the secondary effects of chemo and helped her recover from the treatments.

While Elka was going through chemo she was part of a program that provided palliative care, in which a team of nurses, counselors, and a member of the clergy visited her house to help her through her recovery. The hospital’s decision to cancel palliative care brought out the educator and advocate in her.  She lobbied the president of Saint Vincent’s Hospital for the continuation of palliative assistance so that others could have the same quality of care that she had.  She also worked with Dr. Wizer speaking to naturopathic college students about the benefits of palliative services, and also talked with her oncologist about how complementary support would improve patient care.

Elka also worked with Susan Hedland of Cancer Care Resources as a counselor and educator, affording Elka the opportunity to speak to interns at various hospitals about how to deal with the emotional aspects of patient care.  She later became involved with the Clara Jean Foundation after she met the Laible family at a cancer support function and was asked to join the board. The Clara Jean Foundation’s mission to inform those affected by breast cancer about the broad range of naturopathic options available fit right into Elka’s cancer education goals.  Elka remained an active member of  the Clara Jean Foundation until a few months before her death.  Elka taught all aspects of cancer care to the cancer community, from oncologists, to interns, to naturopathic oncology students, to hospital administrators; she was a teacher to the end.         

Elka read in Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom that Morrie wanted to have a memorial service with all his friends before he died. She loved the idea and her husband, Richard Turner, and her two sons, Devin and Kalen, had a service to celebrate her incredible life that hundreds attended before she passed on April 6, 2007.

            After her death, the Clara Jean Foundation created a scholarship fund in her honor to help other breast cancer patients attend workshops on the benefits of natural medicine for cancer care.  It was after the scholarship fund was formed that Richard was asked to be a Clara Jean board member and help with the application of the scholarship.