Vivien King Ely

Born October 5, 1920, in Johnson City, TN, Vivien became the first member of her family to attend college, receiving her bachelor’s degree from what is now East Tennessee State University. During World War II, she served in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), attaining the rank of lieutenant.

After the war, Vivien taught distributive education at the old John Marshall High School in Richmond. There she met fellow teacher Clarence Patrick (Pat) Ely, whom she married in 1950; he became the first principal of Mary Munford Elementary School, serving for a quarter-century.

After a few years at home with her two sons, Vivien worked as a teacher and developer of curriculum at Richmond Professional Institute (now Virginia Commonwealth University) and at Thomas Jefferson High School. She also trained staff for various retail businesses. She remembered with special fondness teaching employees at the Eggleston Hotel and Restaurant in Jackson Ward and preparing staff for the opening of Willow Lawn, Richmond’s first shopping center.

Attending classes over a period of years while working full-time, Vivien earned a doctorate in education from North Carolina State University. She spent the last two decades of her teaching career as a professor of marketing education at VCU. A national leader in her field, she wrote a popular textbook on entrepreneurship. After Pat Ely’s death in 1980 and Vivien’s retirement in 1985, she directed the Reveille Weekday School for several years.

Vivien’s profound Christian faith was manifested both by everyday example and through her leadership at Reveille United Methodist Church from 1954 until late in life. She was an inspiring teacher of nearly every age level and a mentor to new members. She became the first woman chair of the commission on education and of the church council. In later years she studied at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute near Jerusalem and enjoyed volunteering at Swansboro Elementary School. Many found their faith deepened by their contact with her.

Vivien was a great advocate of women’s advancement, and she gave pivotal support to a number of young women. She herself rose to leadership in almost every organization she belonged to; in addition to her roles in the Army and the church, she served as a department chair at VCU and as president of the Interfaith Council of Greater Richmond.

Although the demands of Vivien’s professional and volunteer activities were equivalent to working two jobs, she managed it all with great poise, aided by a devoted husband who took for granted that men shared the housework and childrearing, and that women studied and led.

Vivien was preceded in death by all eight of her siblings as well as her husband and her younger son, Gordon King Ely. She is survived by her elder son, Melvin Patrick Ely, daughter-in-law, Jennifer R. Loux, and grandson, Nathaniel Patrick Ely; grandson, Oren N. Z. Ely, granddaughter-in-law, Shauna Rivka Ely, and great-granddaughter, Ilana A. Ely; granddaughter, Kinneret K. S. Ely; former daughter-in-law, Naama Zahavi-Ely; nine nieces and nephews and their families; and many devoted friends.

A memorial service will be scheduled and announced when considerations of public health permit.

Vivien would have wanted any gestures of remembrance to promote the values her life embodied. Memorial contributions designated for Swansboro ministries may be sent to Reveille United Methodist Church, 4200 Cary Street Rd., Richmond, Va. 23221; and donations earmarked for the restoration and maintenance of recently desecrated Black and Jewish cemeteries may be directed to the Enrichmond Foundation, PO Box 25609, Richmond, Va. 23260, or to Keneseth Beth Israel, 6300 Patterson Ave., Richmond, Va. 23226.