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November 26, 2024

Donna Elkinson-Miller, co-founder of PR firm Elkinson & Sloves, dies at 71

Contributed Donna Elkinson-Miller in a 1980s Hartford Whalers photo shoot with Whalers legend Ron Francis.
By David Krechevsky

Donna Elkinson-Miller, co-founder of the Farmington-based advertising, marketing and public relations firm Elkinson & Sloves, died Nov. 20, after a short illness. She was 71.

According to information provided by her business partner, Jay Sloves, Elkinson-Miller died after a short battle with esophageal cancer.

Donna G. Elkinson-Miller

Elkinson-Miller and Sloves co-founded their firm in 1981. It would eventually become the region’s 15th largest, with $1.5 million in gross billings in 2023.

“Donna was part of the agency team that created the iconic logo” for the Hartford Whalers, the region’s former NHL franchise, Sloves said in an email to Hartford Business Journal. 

He said then-Whalers owner Howard Baldwin “told Donna if you ever want to start your own agency, he wanted to be our first account. We were two kids in our 20s when we founded Elkinson + Sloves in 1981.”

He noted that “everybody always thought I was the sports guy, but it was Donna,” and added that it was fitting that the last project she worked on was an event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Whalers’ first game in Hartford. That event is scheduled for Jan. 11, 2025.

Born on March 3, 1953, at Stamford Hospital, Elkinson-Miller was the daughter of the late Eugene J. Gostomski and the late Ann B. Gostomski. She graduated from Norwalk High School and from Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, where she received a bachelor’s degree in English and secondary education. 

She was a Woodbury resident and a longtime member of The Woodbury Junior Women’s Club.

After co-founding her firm, she had a 43-year career creating award-winning marketing and community-outreach campaigns. In addition to the Whalers, the firm’s first account, other notable accounts included the Hartford Yard Goats, PGA Tour; and New England Blizzard. The firm also marketed the 1996 Presidential Debate, featuring incumbent Bill Clinton, GOP candidate Bob Dole, and independent candidate Ross Perot, with the marketing materials deeded to the Smithsonian Institution.

Elkinson-Miller also was an early supporter of Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, and was founding partner of CT Latino News. 

“Obviously, (with) 43 years in the business, Donna touched a lot of lives,” Sloves said. “As I often said, What other giant stands 5-foot-1 in heels?”

Elkinson-Miller is survived by her husband, Jeffrey Miller of Woodbury, her daughter Alexandra Saldarriaga-Miller of Prague, Czech Republic, and her dog, Gizmo.

A Celebration of Life ceremony will be held at a later date. Family and friends will be contacted with specific details, location and time. A Zoom link will be available for those who wish to participate virtually. For updates about her Life Celebration, to share condolences, photos and memories, visit: munsonloveterefuneralhome.com.

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