In Memory

Ellen Bass (Miller)

Ellen Bass (Miller)



 
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09/10/19 04:56 PM #2    

Doug P. Allen

Ellen was one of those few "life-long friends" at any distance.  My ex and I were friends through our high school and college years and after.  We knew some of her family members, met her husband George and continued our friendships.... I recall years ago being in Rochester when she and George lived there (before Arizona and Virginia) and recalling some great high school memories.  Ellen is survived by two great daughters and one of them was kind enough to share a donation site with me where those of us who remember her can donate to the continuing fight against Pancreatic Cancer.  Here it is for those who might wish to donate:  http://support.pancan.org/site/TR/DIY/DIYTeamraisers?px=2929523&pg=personal&fr_id=1081&fbclid=IwAR21t1wyg406-5W0ALsZlPjyTL8xIKBXu_pg7gv-JuTP_tmu_fCocig7k44


09/11/19 07:58 AM #3    

Ellen S. Schwalenstocker (Schwalenstocker)

I am so sorry and saddened to see this. Ellen was a kind and true friend. 


09/11/19 08:20 AM #4    

Sheila DeClerck (DeClerck)

Ellen was one of the kindest, people I have ever known.  We didn't know eachother very well in highschool but found ourselves living on Butternut Drive in Pittsford in the early 70s both in our first homes and as newlyweds.  We became fast friends and as they often say, truly good friends can spend years apart and pick up right were they left off when they meet again. We did.  5 years ago we reconnected and the years melted away and great old memories were resurrected and new ones developed. We continued to stay in eachother's lives through the magic of FB and visits when possible. 

Last year John (Lake) and I were the recipients of Ellen  & George's gracious hospitality through an overnight stay in their beautiful new home in Hardy, VA as we were traveling home to Rochester for Thanksgiving. I will never forget that visit.  She was radiant and at peace.  George ever her devoted prince, advocate and helpmate, was always by her side and helping make our meal (s) fit for royalty.  When we parted the next morning we gripped eachother fiercely and whispered "I WILL see you in October at our reunion". 

So close....  I know she was weary, and now an army of angels are holding her close.  Those of us who knew her will miss her certainly.  The world is a bit dimmer without her bright presence, our lives less full with the gaping hole in our hearts.   

Until we can pick up where we left off again...REST IN PEACE Ellen. 


09/11/19 09:52 AM #5    

Brian Terho

I'm sad to hear this. Her family lived on Tall Acres, almost across from where my family's house was on Stuyvesant Rd. We rode the same bus together all through high school and she was friends with my sister, Vicki. She also ended up working for my Dad at Kodak Office some years later. She was very nice. It was always a pleasure seeing her. Rest in Peace Ellen.


09/12/19 01:57 PM #6    

Alice J. (Aj. ) Zissler

I was very sad about hearing that Ellen had passed away. Her spirit will be with everyone at the October high school reunion. Thank you, Kathy, for letting us know.


09/14/19 07:26 AM #7    

Dan Goodenow

First I want to thank Kathy for the initial notification of Ellen's death.  I also want to thank Doug for the link to the Wage Hope site. Without the class website, I might never have been informed.  Thank you.

From time to time, I do log in and brouse the class site and find it interesting and reminiscential.  The news about Ellen came as a complete shock.  Having moved to Pittsford for the eighth grade and leaving the summer after graduation, I only really knew Ellen for about 3 1/2 years at PCS, my memories of our relationship still occupy a small, happy, little place in my brain. That space is now shrouded in reflective sadness.

3 1/2 years seems like such a short period of time, but in my mind, it seems as if it was much longer and so formative.  Me being an average student at best, an average athlete, average guitarist, average artist, pretty much average at everything, she was the one that kept me in the game.  Overlooking my self inflicted low self esteme, she emotionally supported me and gave me something special to care about.  she was my rock.  I could always count on her.

Since this past Tuesday, I've been trading stories and rememberences of Ellen, (and me), with my old classmates and band mates, Boston, Diek, Woms and Bark.  Dan Kropp reminded me about how I used to, on occasion, carry Ellen's books to class.  Bob Legge wrote me a story about Ellen in his fifth grade class. I of course me shared a few stories with them.

One that I'll offer here is from 1968, when we went to see the newly released Romeo and Juliet movie.  My motivation for going was to see the movie and thus not have to read the assigned book fro English class.  Her's was much more and a remember very clearly coming out of that theater with tears running from my eyes and being so in love with Ellen. Simple things come back to me like dancing in the "big" gym during school dances or sitting outside the cafeteria between lunch and class, the typical her standing between my legs and me with my arms around her back.

It was during one of those senior year after lunch rendezvous that I told her that if I didn't get into college, I wanted to marry her before I went to Vietnam.  Looking back, I think I was just lost and once again reaching out to her.  She was always there for me...

Some how, I did get into college.  She went off to Alfred and me to Pennsylvania.  Later during freshman year, after holding on to a long distance relatiionship as best we could, she met George and broke it off with me. Even though I had started to moved on, I was devistated.  I actually hand wrote out the lyrics from Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge over Troubled Water and included it as the ending to my last letter to her.  At the 45th reunion, we got to talk and she mentioned that she remembered the letter.  Seeing and speaking with her then meant and means so much to me. She will be in my thoughts forever.  A special person and a 3 1/2 year high school love affair.

In getting the news, I turned to one of my guitars that handgs behind my home office desk.  I spent a few hours playing and arrived at Bridge over Troubled Water. My thoughts and memories drifted in and out of that song.  Forever with me.

Sail on silver girl...


09/15/19 10:26 AM #8    

Ellen S. Schwalenstocker (Schwalenstocker)

That is a truly beautiful testimony and memory, Dan. When I think back about Ellen now, I think her wisdom as well as her kindness stand out. She will not be forgotten.


09/15/19 12:21 PM #9    

Dan Goodenow

Ellen, thank you for your kind words.  Funny thing is that after posting I went back and proof read my typing and found two typos and one misspelled word.  I immediately smiled and recalled how back in high school, Ellen did all of my typing, and probally editing and proofreading.  I guess it's just one more example of how much I needed her back then and how giving and caring she was.  I hope she is smiling down on me now.

God bless her and may she rest in peace until we all meet again.


09/15/19 01:30 PM #10    

Mary Worboys (Turner)

Dan..What a beautiful memory and tribute to Ellen. Thank you for sharing. She was such a beautiful person..so full of joy..I can hear her laugh in my mind’s eye now..something thta will stay with me forever.  Peace...


09/16/19 08:50 AM #11    

Dan Goodenow

Mary, Thank you and yes we can't say enough great things about Ellen.  Funny thing is that to this day, maybe because my stay in Pittsford was cut short with my family moving to CT, and me off to PA, I still mostly think of PCS folks as they were back during those years I was there. I picture you that way; on the stage during a chorus preformance or maybe in the hall. It's as if time has stood still.  It was good.


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