Ellen Adams Ducote was born on Christmas Day in 1953. She died on July 31, 2025 from metastatic breast cancer after surviving with the disease for years. She was raised in Houston, Texas by her parents, Carol Nash Adams and George Baxter Adams, Jr. Ellen attended Stephens College of Columbia, Missouri and the University of Texas, graduating with a degree in elementary education. After college, she moved to Dallas, where she had many jobs, including one selling mopeds, until she found her calling in women's retail. Ellen was a personal shopper at Neiman Marcus and later worked at Charles Edwin, a women’s clothing store in Austin.
She met her husband Lester in Lafayette, Louisiana. They moved to Austin in 1985, married in 1987, and raised two children, Alexander (Alex) Mark Ducote and Audrey Ellen Ducote, in a home on the banks of Shoal Creek. Ellen loved her volunteer work at Brykerwoods Elementary, O. Henry Middle School and Austin High. For many years, she found great joy in volunteering every Monday morning at The Settlement Home for Children, where she was a force behind the scenes of their annual garage and estate sale.
Ellen was preceded in death by her father, Baxter; her sister, Ann; and her daughter, Audrey. She is survived by her husband Lester; her son, Alex and his wife, Lillian, and her most adorable grandchildren, Lula Raye and Leo George; her mother Carol; and her sister Kelley Burgess.
Memorial Services will be held 11:00 am Monday, August 25, 2025 at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 5416 Parkcrest Dr, Austin, Texas 78731. Ellen will be buried next to her daughter Audrey at Austin Memorial Park in a private family ceremony.
Instead of flowers donations may be made to The Settlement Home for Children at 1600 Payton Gin Road, Austin, TX 78758 or https://www.settlementhome.org/donate/ or the Audrey Ducote Memorial Fund c/o Austin Community Foundation at 4315 Guadalupe, Suite 300, Austin, TX 78751 or https://austincf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=1675.
