Ellen VanAlstyne Starratt

Starratt, Ellen Van Alstyne
Ellen Van Alstyne Starratt passed away, surrounded by her loved-ones, on the morning of May 22, 2019 after a valiant battle with cancer. She is survived by her husband of 60 years, Richard (Dick) Starratt and her 3 children: Richard W., Michael G. and Courtney Starratt Zani, as well as her sister Keats and her 9 grandchildren. She will be remembered as a powerhouse with a heart of gold: "a force of nature".
Ellen was born to David and Janet Van Alstyne in Englewood, NJ on December 1, 1937. She had 3 siblings: Joan VA Johnson (deceased), David Van Alstyne (deceased) and Keats VA Smith. She attended local schools in Englewood – Elizabeth Morrow and Dwight Englewood – before heading to Walnut Hill Boarding school in Natick, MA and then Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY for 2 years.
Ellen met husband-to-be, Dick Starratt, at the engagement party of mutual friends. Ellen and Dick were married on January 3, 1959. Sons Richard and Michael were born while Dick was still in the Navy onboard the USS Shangri-La, a large aircraft carrier stationed in San Diego, and they lived happily in Coronado. After discharge from the service in 1962, they moved back to Englewood where they had their third child, Courtney. In Englewood, they enjoyed strong support from Ellen's parents and oldest sister, Joan, and close ties to childhood friends. For the next 10 years Ellen raised their 3 children and became very involved in Junior League of Bergen County. Dick worked for Morgan Guaranty (now JP Morgan-Chase) and car-pooled to New York daily with Ellen's father, brother-in-law and friends.
Ellen was never one to sit still; before getting married she held a variety of jobs in New York, including an administrative position at publisher Conde Nast. After marriage she volunteered while the kids were still in school. Once the kids went to boarding school, Ellen worked for a local Englewood company as book-keeper while still volunteering. When Dick and Ellen moved to Florida in the early 80's, Ellen got her Real Estate license and began a successful career as a residential real-estate agent. She worked in retail on Worth Avenue; she sold designer clothes. Once she and Dick moved to Laguna Niguel in 2002, she took up painting and sold greeting cards based on her oil paintings, while playing on multiple tennis teams and working for a local hospice provider. After moving to a Senior Community in Laguna Niguel in 2002, Monarch Summit II, Ellen became energetically involved in its activities. She participated in and ran many committees upon which the community depended, culminating in her election to President of the Board in 2015. True to form, she served her term as President while battling cancer.
Ellen was a woman of many passions: philanthropy, theater, travel, painting, her family. She volunteered for worthwhile organizations throughout her life: Junior League in Englewood and then in San Francisco – where she wrote and received commendation for her report for the Juvenile Justice Commission - Children's Theater Association of San Francisco, and in her later years as a hospice worker in Laguna Niguel. She was an avid amateur actor and singer, playing ALL the "little boy" roles for CTA and singing in various choirs throughout her life, most recently Laguna Niguel Presbyterian church. To say that Ellen was "well-traveled" is an understatement, she traveled extensively and even had the opportunity to meet Winston Churchill! After Dick's retirement, they continued to travel the world with their lifelong friends the Sargents. After she moved to Laguna Niguel, she took up oil painting, and created many wonderful paintings of her travels and beautiful homes. She was a beloved, involved, and doting Grammy, Gigi, Gramma and "Auntie El" to her 9 grandchildren and 13 nieces and nephews and their offspring. She never forgot a birthday or milestone and made special time for each of them.
One enduring constant in her life was Point O' Woods, Fire Island. Ellen loved POW and shared that love with her entire family. Every summer the Van Alstyne offspring would gather at POW to enjoy its rustic beauty and be together. Upon her mother's death, Ellen took over as manager of the family home. She poured her heart and soul into the house, making it a wonderful haven for family and myriad renters. She organized, produced, wrote and starred in musicals at POW from the early 60's until the mid 2000's, first with Tom Flagg et al, and later with sister Keats.