Obituary of Ellen Marie Lane

Ellen Marie Lane On July 22, 2015, Ellen Marie (Ellis) Lane beloved of spouse Tom Lane, and their children: Teresa Parker, Mark (Julie) Lane, and Stephen (Kimberli) Lane, departed this mortal coil. Ellen was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1941, to George and Katherine Ellis, the middle child and only girl in a family of five children. She is pre-deceased by her parents and both older brothers, Richard (Pamela) Ellis and Michael (Dixie) Ellis, and survived by her younger brothers, Terry (Sandy) Ellis and Patrick (Mary Ann) Ellis. Ellen is also survived by her brothers-in law Charles, Michael (Dolores), and Stephen , and by sister-in-law Patricia (Gary). She was pre- deceased by sister-in-law Linda (Doug). Ellen and Tom have seven adult grand children, and five great-grand children. Auntie to her brothers’ and her in-laws’ children and grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews will share their temporary grief and prolonged affection for Ellen and the radiant joy she brought to family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers…. those fortunate enough to have known her. Ellen and Tom married in Columbus as teenagers 57 years ago and soon moved to California where her profound love of the sea and awe of nature’s power began. They lived there, at various times, in North Coast San Diego, the San Fernando Valley (where many treasures were lost, and Ellen suffered an injury affecting her for the rest of her life during the Sylmar earthquake of 1971). Following jobs and/or inclinations, they also lived in suburban D.C. (Laurel, Md.), suburban Chicago (Winnetka), and then for ten years in Lahaina- side Maui and Kailua-Kona, Hawaii where Ellen managed keiki (children’s) resort boutiques. The Islands tremendously reinforced both the awe of nature and Ellen’s affinity for the ocean. There she became an avid SCUBA diver, enjoying encounters with great turtles, huge rays, and even sharks, and collecting small lost treasures. Ellen won a wahine jackpot fishing tournament, and participated as a volunteer in both the world renown Victoria to Maui Yacht Race and the Kailua-Kona Iron man. Ellen experienced her first (of many) hurricanes when power was lost at her Lahaina condo for five days (minor, compared to later shocks), and hiked to within inches of flowing lava from Kiluea volcano as well as peering into the crater itself at Volcano House. Reluctantly leaving Hawaii, Ellen and Tom moved to the Gulf Coast of Florida where Ellen excelled at Edison Community College, and then to Greenville, S.C. where she worked as a paralegal and a Notary Public (once officiating as such at the wedding of a friend). Almost 20 years ago Ellen and Tom made their last move to what became their longest residence, near the Atlantic Coast in Palm Bay, Fla. Three hurricanes (Charlie, Frances, and Jeanne) in 2004 caused extensive damage by passing almost directly over that home. The last of Ellen’s international trips, after many visits to Canada and Mexico, and a thrilling tour of Fiji, was a 50th anniversary cruise to some of the Caribbean Islands in 2008. Nearly beyond belief, three different hurricanes interrupted or changed the schedule or route of that one voyage. After that last move, Ellen made many friends in the Health Care Industry where she worked as a customer service agent until her first courageous battle with cancer, and she continued her active life, her gardening and crocheting hobbies, her travels, after seemingly conquering the disease. The metastasized return of the dreadful killer, and Ellen’s demise, will haunt her loved ones until our own scatterings, but was recognized by Ellen as another manifestation of the inevitability of nature’s supremacy. Requiescat in Pace