Ellen F. Dingman

1941 - 2020

Ellen F. Dingman

Cary

Ellen F. Dingman, 78, died March 25 at Waltonwood Cary Parkway after an extended illness. She was born April 11, 1941, in New Brunswick, NJ, the youngest of three daughters of the late Dr. Harold H. Freedman and the late Marian Winters Freedman. Ellen was a devoted and loving daughter, sister, wife, aunt, and mother. She made many trips back to Freehold when her mother moved to a continuing-care community with Ellen's older sister.

Ellen attended public schools in Freehold, NJ, through Grade Six and graduated in 1958 from what is now Princeton Day School in Princeton, NJ. Before college, she traveled to France as a part of the Experiment in International Living. Two years later she returned to France to work as a camp counselor and to study Spanish at the University of Madrid. She also worked in New York City as a counselor to foreign students newly arrived in the US. She earned a BA degree in French at Connecticut College in 1962.

Following college, Ellen interned in the Dean of Students' office at Wheaton College in Norton, MA. She became de facto dean a year later and Assistant Dean of Students in 1964. At Wheaton she met her husband, Tony Dingman, who was the College's Director of Theatre. They married in 1964 and moved to Pittsburgh in 1966 where their son Scott was born and Tony did a doctoral residency.

In 1967 the Dingmans moved to Rocky Mount, NC, where their daughter Lisa was born and Ellen began her life's work as an educator, first as a part-time instructor in Rocky Mount schools. In 1971 Ellen and her family moved to Raleigh where she worked part-time at both St. Michael's Episcopal Church preschool and at Ravenscroft. She also taught English to adults in Wake Technical College's evening high school diploma program and took graduate courses in counseling at NCSU. She became certified in Vocational Education and in 1978 joined Wake County Public Schools as a vocational teacher at North Garner Middle School and later at Garner High School.

She retired in 2002 after having coordinated the Communities In Schools (CIS) program at Garner High for twelve years. Among the honors she received was the 1993 Wake County Interact Award of Excellence, a nomination for Garner High's Teacher of the Year in 1998, and the 1999 Rotary Club of Garner's Humanitarian Award for having "gone the extra mile" in service and support to the Garner community. One of her nominators described Ellen as "a tireless worker who always maintained a positive attitude with students and never gave up on a child." Ellen was equally proud of the over 100 volunteer tutor-mentors she supervised each year as they assisted her at risk students.

Ellen spent her early summers on the Jersey shore and loved the ocean. After marriage, Ellen learned to love fresh-water swimming in the Adirondacks and devoted time each spring and fall to their Lake George summer cottage. Ellen is survived by husband, Tony, of Cary; their son Scott of Durham and his sons Lucas and Parker and their mother, Pamela, of Raleigh; and their daughter Lisa and her husband Jonathan Betz and their children, Charlotte and Jeremy, of Summit, NJ. She is also survived by a sister, Dr. Ann Mizgerd, and her husband, Dr. Joseph Mizgerd; their children, Jay, his wife Louise, and their two sons; and Cathy Mizgerd and her two sons. In addition, she is survived by several cousins.

The family is deeply grateful to Nikki Hunte of HomeWatch CareGivers, to the Memory Care staff at Waltonwood Cary Parkway, and to Heartland Home Health and Hospice of Raleigh. Because of the current health crisis, a memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Communities in Schools of Wake County, 971 Harp Street, Raleigh, NC 27604, or to the Lake George Association, PO Box 408, Lake George, NY 12845, or to a charity of one's choice.

Arrangements by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home and the UNC School of Medicine.