Margaret A. Ellis

Margaret A. Ellis
WOOLWICH -- Margaret Ellis, a devoted nurse practitioner who shunned retirement in order to provide medical care to underserved communities, died on Feb. 26, 2011, at her home in Woolwich, surrounded all week by loved ones. The cause was a rare form of lymphoma.
Margaret, the eldest of four children of John and Charlotte Petrie, was born in London on April 12, 1939, where she spent her early childhood. After the war, her family moved to the Channel Islands where she took a job on Herm Island, at age 15, helping Peter and Jenny Wood with their six children. She embraced the Woods, and they her, and came to consider them her true family. Jenny Wood, in her book, Herm Our Island Home wrote, 'She was a warm hearted, generous child and we came to love her dearly and wouldn't have parted with her for the world.' During this period of her life she grew to love the natural world and discovered her gifts for gardening and nurturing, which developed into lifelong vocations.
Margaret became a nurse in 1960 and a midwife in 1963. A nursing job at the Leysin American School in Switzerland brought her together with her husband, Harwood 'Tim' Ellis, whom she married in 1964. In 1965 they came to Maine, where Tim Ellis became director of the Chewonki Foundation and Margaret became director of healthcare and safety. Together they shaped Chewonki, which grew to be a year-round environmental education organization.
'Margaret instilled in everyone the importance of taking care of one's health,' says Dick Thomas, camp director for many years. 'She loved the natural world and had a huge sense of humor and fun. SheÉpositively affected the lives of countless people.'
Margaret worked at Chewonki for 25 years, simultaneously earning her certification as a nurse practitioner in 1981 and a bachelor of science in nursing from Westbrook College in 1985. After leaving Chewonki, she worked in several medical practices in the Brunswick area. She received a master of science degree in nursing from Simmons College in 1996, and served as an adjunct faculty preceptor there and at the University of Southern Maine.
Dr. Cindy Robertson, a friend and colleague, says, 'She brought a combination of practical resolve and compassion to her practice. She combined scholarly interest with intuition, and always focused on truly caring for her patients.'
Margaret A. Ellis
Margaret's pleasures ran along English tradition: gardening, reading, long walks, outdoor adventuring, family time, knitting, teatime conversations with friends. She was not, however, bound by convention. She had a frank, practical manner that won her a devoted following of patients and friends. 'She had an incredible talent for caring,' says her son, Benjamin. 'It pervaded everything she did.' She volunteered for several organizations, including serving the Morris Farm Trust, Hospice, and Oasis Health Care.
After a long career of caring for others, Margaret Ellis might have relaxed into retirement. Instead, feeling called to serve people in communities that mainstream medical practitioners often avoid, she set out to work as a nurse practitioner in Native American communities in Arizona and coastal Alaska, and in the Dominican Republic. She threw herself into understanding different cultures, approaches to health, and spiritual practices. Her humor, warmth, and commitment seemed to cross all boundaries.
Margaret's lively intellect made her a consummate teacher. She approached healthcare with an educator's passion, advising her patients on emotional as well as physical health. She was equally a learner-someone who never lost the desire to understand what was before her, including her own illness.
Margaret was equally passionate about her family. She and Tim spent much of the last five years in the west, closer to children and grandchildren. They made a second home in Missoula, Mont., where they were able to enjoy grandchildren's hockey games and violin recitals.
Margaret is survived by her husband, Tim Ellis; her daughter, Jenny Ellis, her husband, Seth Wilson, and their children, Zo', Simon, and Reid, of Missoula, Mont.; and her son, Benjamin, his wife, Shannon Shuptrine, and their son, Flynn, of Jackson Hole, Wyo. She is also survived by her 'adopted' siblings Simon Wood, Jo Grimshaw, Pennie Heyworth, Benjamin Wood, Rupert Wood and Rosie Dorey.
A celebration of the life of Margaret Ellis will take place on April 9, at 2:30 p.m., at the Chewonki Foundation in Wiscasset.
Gifts in her honor can be made to:
The Garden Fund
at the Chewonki Foundation
485 Chewonki Neck Rd.
Wiscasset, Maine 04578.
Through this fund,
the perennial gardens she
established there many years
ago will always flourish.