Ellen Browning Lambiris

Ellen Lambiris, 89, died peacefully on January 1, 2021. She was born in Ashland, KY, the daughter of Robert LeWright and Lillian (Champion) Browning. Ellen graduated from Laurel School in Cleveland, Ohio and Sarah Lawrence College, after which she studied lighting design at the Yale School of Drama before becoming a secretary at the Forrestal Institute in Princeton, NJ. It was at Princeton that she met her future husband, Sotiris Lambiris; they were married in August, 1957 and their life together lasted over sixty-three years until his death in September of 2020. They leave one daughter, Susan Lambiris.

Besides being a loving and loyal wife and mother, Ellen had a wide range of passionate interests. She proudly remembered seeing, as a child, Stan Musial playing for her local minor-league baseball team, and continued to follow baseball closely for the rest of her life. She was an even more devoted fan of horseracing and student of racehorse pedigrees. Her childhood love of riding led to her studying equitation in addition to her regular classes while a college student in New York, and she showed three- and five-gaited horses before her marriage. Later in life she showed German Shepherd Dogs and whippets in conformation with modest success. Wildflower identification, gardening, birdwatching, cooking, needlework, and classical music (especially opera) were other interests she eagerly pursued throughout her long life. Her large collection of books covered all these subjects as well as English and American literature and history, the English countryside, European art, and the natural sciences. She was also a self-taught photographer who delighted in taking detailed closeups of her favorite roses and daylily flowers. Nothing excited her more than discovering someone else who shared any of her interests.

Many thanks are owed to Doctors Making Housecalls, her long-term primary care provider, as well as to the staffs of The Oaks at Whitaker Glen - Mayview and Transitions LifeCare for easing her last few weeks.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, WRAP (Whippet Rescue and Placement), or WCPE (The Classical Station).

Arrangements by Brown-Wynne, 300 Saint Mary’s Street, Raleigh.