Mary Ellen Singleton

Mary Ellen Singleton passed away quietly in her sleep in the early morning of Sunday, November 30, at the age of 79. She had been a resident of Brookside Rehab & Nursing Center in Warrenton, Virginia.

Ellen was born on August 6, 1946, in Allendorf, Germany, a beautiful symbol of new life and peace in a country still recovering from the ravages of war. Her father, William Nester, was an American Army sergeant from Frankfort, Kansas, who had entered the war at Normandy with the First Infantry Division. Her mother, Alvina Hoffman, was a young German girl from Allendorf. William stayed in Germany after the war, working at the U.S. Army’s supply depot in Giessen as a civilian, marrying Alvina and raising their only child, Mary Ellen.

Ellen’s childhood embraced both her German and American nationalities, but she soon became a typical American teenager—attending the high school on base, wearing bobby socks, and going to the movies. It was during this time that Ellen met a young Army captain newly posted to the depot, Milton James Singleton, Jr. Ellen and Jim were soon married, and shortly after the birth of their son in May 1966, Jimmy (Milton J. III), Jim received orders to Vietnam.

One of Ellen’s earliest stories was about her long flight to Bangkok, Thailand, where she met Jim for a brief week of R&R. “We had dinner outside at a beautiful restaurant, with white lights in the trees.”

After finishing his tour in Vietnam, Jim left the Army, and he, Ellen, and Jimmy left Germany for the United States. Over several years, the Singleton family moved from New Mexico to Texas, to Louisiana, to Virginia, back to Germany again, and then to the United Kingdom. Ellen did not seem to mind the frequent moves and loved traveling and exploring Europe. She had an amazing eye for design and style, decorating one new home after another.

Throughout it all, she was a fantastic mom—sometimes letting Jimmy play hooky from school to spend the day with her and sending him back the next day with a note saying, “Jimmy had the flu.” This was also a time when strangers often confused Ellen with “Jackie Onassis,” which always made her day.

Ellen’s parents also left Germany, returning to Bill’s hometown of Frankfort. After Bill passed away in 1974, Alvina remained at her beautiful home on the corner of East Sixth Street, but made frequent trips to visit the Singletons wherever they were, often spending months at a time cooking and baking. This explains where Ellen learned to cook and bake so well, especially her famous pineapple cream pie.

While living in England, Jim and Ellen divorced in 1989, and Ellen made her way home to Frankfort. After a while, she struck out on her own and moved to Kansas City, where she worked briefly at Dillard’s Department Store. Determined to keep moving, Ellen then headed to Washington, D.C., where she began a career of more than 20 years with the National Park Service. For a short time, she stayed at the apartment of her son Jimmy and new daughter-in-law, Lori, before finding her own place.

Ellen was not a bad roommate, and Lori soon learned to live with a few minor “eccentricities,” such as scraping breadcrumbs off her ice cubes—because “Mom liked to let her toast cool down in the freezer.”

Eventually, Alvina also moved east and joined Ellen in Lake Ridge, Virginia, and later in Fredericksburg, where they shared a home together. During that time, they enjoyed many visits and wonderful family dinners with Jimmy, Lori, and their children, Matthew and Emily.

Ellen lost her beloved mother, Alvina, on February 28, 2005, but found solace in her “cat family,” often waking up extra early before her long commute to Washington, D.C., to feed stray cats.

Mary Ellen is survived by her son, Jim Singleton; daughter-in-law, Lori; and grandchildren, Matthew and Emily. She was preceded in death by her parents, Bill and Alvina, and her former husband, Jim.

Ellen was interred with her parents at the Frankfort Cemetery in a small ceremony. A private family service will be held at a later date.