Ellen Lefcourt

Ellen Lefcourt M.Ed.

1941 - 2012 Ellen Navin Lefcourt, M.Ed., extraordinary mother, editor and friend, was born July 7, 1941, in Milwaukee, Wisc. She died on March 25, 2010, in Chapel Hill, N.C., of respiratory failure due to pulmonary disease. She died as she lived, surrounded by her family and friends.

She leaves her four children, Daniel John Kellison, a television producer in Los Angeles, Laura Kellison Wallace, a social worker and Work/Life Manager of Chapel Hill, Molly McKenzie Anderson, a nurse in New York City, and Robert Reynolds Anderson, a television producer in Los Angeles. She also leaves two treasured grandchildren, Chloe Kellison and Charlie Anderson, and her children's spouses, Dyan Kellison, Daniel Wallace, Eli Kirtz and Nancy Dillon.

Ellen was cherished by her friends and family for her unconditional love and fierce compassion, her wicked and expansive humor, and her keen intelligence and love of the arts: dance, literature and music, from Janis Joplin to Yo Yo Ma. She saw Leonard Cohen live in Durham late last year; the year before that, Lou Reed.

She spent her childhood on her family's Indiana farm, traveling to New York City to see her father, Charles Isidore Lefcourt, known throughout the city as the Dean of Seventh Avenue, and who, towards the end of his long life, appeared on the David Letterman Show, the Oldest Living Salesman in New York. She often spoke of her bucolic childhood, of summers walking barefoot in the Indiana fields, of riding horses and developing a love for the natural world, a love she carried on until the day she died.

Ellen, was a spirited young woman, and not long for the farm. After years of run-ins with tyrannical nuns, she was kicked out of her Catholic school for skipping class, and soon after set out for Chicago to live on her own. It was there she met her first husband, Roger Kellison, an inventor and salesman for 3M. In 1963 they moved to the Riverdale section of the Bronx, and had a son, Daniel Kellison. Becoming pregnant again just a few months later and strapped for cash, Ellen tried out for Jeopardy, hoping to win a little prize money to help make ends meet: for two nights in a row she was the champion. In July 1965, her daughter Laura was born; a few years later Ellen and Roger were divorced.

In 1971, Ellen and her children moved to Brattleboro, where she married Eric Anderson, with whom she had her third and fourth children, Molly and Rob. During her time in Brattleboro, Ellen sold crafts at The Good Life, taught writing and English at the Community College of Vermont and led programs at the West Village Meeting House. She was an active member of the community and made many lifelong friends.

In 1981 her marriage to Eric ended, and Ellen and her children left Vermont for Northampton, Mass. There she enrolled in Smith College, in the Ada Comstock Scholars Program for non-traditional-aged students. She graduated with honors in 1983. In 1990, Ellen earned a masters degree in Education from Harvard University, and subsequently was involved in special projects, involving adult learning in that department.

In 2003, Ellen left Northampton for Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where her oldest daughter Laura is a social worker married to UNC Professor and critically acclaimed author Daniel Wallace. She spent her time in Chapel Hill editing novels, writing poetry and entertaining her ever widening circle of beloved friends.

Ellen always said the greatest achievement of her life was raising four amazing children, all of whom carry on her passion for art, her quick wit, her unfailing irreverence, and her unfettered compassion. As she watched them find their places in the world as successful and happy adults it was as if she felt her job here was done, even though no one could ever be, or will ever be, done with her. Ellen left loving and dedicated friends: The loss of her dazzling spirit has left an enormous community bereft.

What an amazing woman she was, whose real genius was the art of living: as much as she was loved, she loved more.