Gelene Duncan Ellsworth

COLUMBIA - Surrounded by her loving family, Gelene Alderman Duncan Ellsworth went to join her Savior on Sunday, November 12, 2017, after an extended illness. A private family burial will take place at Elmwood Cemetery on Thursday, November 16, and visitation will follow from 5:00-7:00 p.m. in Jackson Hall at First Presbyterian Church, 1324 Marion Street, Columbia. Born in Columbia on New Year's Eve, 1940, Mrs. Ellsworth was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Owen Alderman Duncan (Harriet Mood Scarborough). She was the paternal granddaughter of the late Hon. and Mrs. Walter Edward Duncan (Bessie Davis Alderman) of Aiken and the maternal granddaughter of the late Hon. and Mrs. William Rogers Scarborough (Rosa Clarendon Mood) of Bishopville. Her paternal grandfather owned the Aiken Standard and later served as Comptroller General of the State of SC, and her maternal grandfather was Mayor of Bishopville. She was named for her uncle's wife, Gelene Stallworth Scarborough, whom the family adored. Surviving are her much-beloved husband of almost 42 years, Carl Anthony Ellsworth of Columbia; her daughter, Ashleigh Duncan Ellsworth-Keller (David) of Burlington, VT; her son, LT CMDR, US Navy, Carl Anthony Ellsworth, Jr. (Kristen), of Anacortes, WA; her brother, Dr. Walter Rogers Duncan (Elizabeth) of Columbia; her brother-in-law, Dr. John Robert Ellsworth (Mary Dozier) of Lexington; her mother-in-law, Mrs. Raymond R. Ellsworth of Columbia; her nephew and nieces, Ryan McIan Ellsworth of Lexington, Lindsay Ellsworth Sadler (Jamie) of Lexington, and Rachel Cannon Duncan of Columbia; and her Goddaughter, Julie Weston Daniels of Charleston. She also is survived by two beloved grandchildren, Carl Anthony Ellsworth, III, and Rowan Augusta Ellsworth-Keller. She graduated from Dreher High School, attended Converse College, and graduated from the University of South Carolina. At the University, she was a member of Chi Omega and Angel Flight and was chosen Sweetheart of Sigma Chi. She was the May Court Honor Attendant and was named "Miss Carolina" in a penny-vote contest, with the monies collected going to the Foreign Students' Association. She was also one of twenty contestants in the Best-Dressed Coed Contest, sponsored by Glamour magazine. Her close friend Mary Anne Easterling Haden won and went on to be one of the 10 best-dressed coeds in the U.S. In the summer of 1963, she attended the Sigma Chi Eastern Regionals in Greensboro and was chosen Regional Sweetheart over five other Sweethearts, all representing NC schools. It pleased the USC Sigma Chis a great deal that they won over all the Tarheels! She worked in the Washington Office of US Senator James Strom Thurmond beginning in 1964, the year he changed parties, and later was Administrative Assistant to Carroll Ashmore Campbell in the office of SC Governor James Burrows Edwards. She was formerly a flight attendant for Pan American World Airways (Pan Am), the premier international airline in the world at the time (which all the old movies will show--it also brought the Beatles from London to New York). She was based in New York City, traveling to Europe, South America, and the Caribbean. She also taught at James Island High School in Charleston and was the Alumnae Director at Converse College in Spartanburg. As she has long told her friends, "I had some great opportunities for careers, but what I really always wanted was to be a wife and mother." She was a member of The Columbia Ball and The Quadrille and a member and officer of The Columbia Garden Club, of the National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of South Carolina, Columbia Committee, and of the English-Speaking Union of the U.S., Columbia Branch. She was very active in the Converse College Columbia Council, which she served as president, and the Chi Omega Alumnae Association. She was a member of the Richland County Legal Auxiliary, City Panhellenic, the Silver Society, and Clan Donnachaid (Duncan) Scottish Society, Int. She represented the USC Class of 1964 for the Carolina Scholars. For many years, she was a member of Ebenezer Lutheran Church, where she served on numerous committees, taught Sunday School, and at one time chaired The Order of St. John (Acolytes and Crucifers). She was named an Honorary Member of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary Auxiliary and belonged to Hannah Circle of the Lutheran Church Women. In later years, she and her husband became members of First Presbyterian (ARP) Church. Mrs. Ellsworth served on the PTO boards of Brennen, Crayton, and A.C. Flora Schools. She volunteered with the Junior Girl Scouts at Shandon United Methodist Church, the Soup Kitchen at Washington Street United Methodist Church, and the Shandon and Kilbourne Park Neighborhood Councils. One of Mrs. Ellsworth's greatest joys was seeing old friends and to that end was instrumental in the planning of many reunions for her classmates and colleagues from Dreher, Converse, USC, and The Strom Thurmond Alumni Association. She also co-chaired the 50th anniversary of her Chi Omega chapter, Eta Gamma, in 1978, while she served as advisor to the collegiate members of the chapter. In 1995, she represented the chapter (the only alumna from USC to attend) at National Chi Omega's Centennial at the University of Arkansas, where the sorority was founded. In 1997, she joined Eta Gamma's Housing Corporation, which began raising funds to build a sorority house in the Greek Village at the University. In 2003, this goal was met, and the house was dedicated during the chapter's 75th anniversary. Mrs. Ellsworth served as first secretary of the corporation. She served a term as Vice-President of the Alumnae Association of Converse College, then as a Decade Chair and later as the Chair of the Records and Recognitions Committee of the Alumnae Board. She also served two five-year terms each as her Class Representative and Fund Chair. While their son was attending the U.S. Naval Academy, she and her husband were co-presidents of the SC Naval Academy Parents' Club, representing SC at events in the state and in Annapolis. They belonged to "Safe Harbor," an organization offering assistance to Academy Midshipmen hurt or stranded in the area. On one occasion, they were called upon to help two young men who had been in a serious accident on I-95 and whose families lived on the West Coast. The Ellsworths visited them in the hospital and eventually brought them home to stay, then saw that they returned to Maryland safely. Mrs. Ellsworth felt that these were some of the most rewarding moments of her life. For some years, through The Columbia Garden Club, she played "Auntie Litter" (a program begun by Keep America Beautiful) to school and kindergarten children, another activity she immensely enjoyed. Because of this, the club dedicated its 2002 Yearbook to her. Then, in 2016, they recognized her as a special member for her service to the club. Mrs. Ellsworth loved genealogy and travel (she took a summer job in London so she could get the "feel" of living and working abroad, and she drove across the U.S. twice by herself in her late sixties). She was an avid reader and history buff, especially interested in SC, Greek, British, and WWII history. She also was a "stickler" for correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, and pronunciation. As a youth, she attended Mary Lou Kramer's dramatics classes, participating in Children's Theater productions at Town Theater and later at Converse, Carolina, and The Spartanburg Little Theater. In later years, she enjoyed working at The Children's Exchange, where she loved seeing old friends and making new ones. She was grateful to Liz Cantey and Paula LaMotte McCutchen for giving her that opportunity. She was a huge supporter of the military and was constantly saddened by the fact that more young people she knew did not choose this noble and patriotic profession. She was proud that her father, husband, son, and daughter-in-law were all military men (and woman), and said that when she was young, had she known what she came to know as an adult, she would have joined the military, too. She thoroughly enjoyed her Friday night friends in the “Beer Run Gang”, her "Diva" lunchmates, her Old Players (Town Theater) friends, her "hysterical" Tri Ep friends, her Sigma Chi friends, and her husband's Sigma Nu brothers. She was proud of her husband and the other members of the band Heart 'n Soul, who play for charity. She was especially fond of her roommates from 86 King Street, Charleston, who continued to get together for years. She also had many friends from other walks of life, and she loved them all, as well as her many Mood and Scarborough cousins. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to: USO at Columbia Metropolitan Airport (P.O. Box 96860, Washington, DC 20077); The Powder Magazine (P.O. Box 22127, Charleston, SC 29413); Dining for Women, an organization aiding women from impoverished countries endeavoring to lift their families from poverty (in care of Mrs. Susan Hendricks, 5 Possum Run, Columbia, SC 29223); First Presbyterian Church (1324 Marion Street, Columbia, SC 29201), her two colleges, or a charity of one's choice. We wish to thank her many doctors, nurses, and caregivers, especially Dr. William Robinson, Dr. Frederic Smith, Dr. Robert Leonardi, Dr. William Brabham, Dr. Dan Love, Dr. Jim Chow, MUSC Pulmonary Dept. (Dr. Flume and Dr. Church), and Andrella Brunson and the kitchen staff at Trinity Cathedral. Your kindness and care will always be remembered. Honorary pallbearers will be cousins: Frank Mood, Claude Mood Scarborough, III, Gene Scarborough, Jr., The Honorable Mikell Scarborough, Greg Rollins, Jim Darby, Billy Betchman, Hugh Betchman, Smith Harrison, Jr., and Frank Johnson. Additional honorary pallbearers will be: Sonny Sims, Robert Brutschy, Doug Neal, Ernie Trubiano, W. Lee Tigner, George McCutchen, Mooney Player, Rusty DePass, Bob Liming, Michael Herring, LT CMDR Haywood Foard, USN and LT CMDR Joshua Fogarty, USN. Mrs. Ellsworth asks that you take your eyes off your iPhones and give at least five people a bright smile each day, then speak to someone you might otherwise ignore. If not, at least give them the smile, as "a warm smile is the universal language of kindness" (William Arthur Ward). Try to do a good deed a day. Dance and think of her when her husband sings her favorites, "Stand by Me" and "Sweet Caroline." She also asks that you obey all traffic laws. Please honor her that way, she said, and you might save a life, perhaps your own. And always remember your Faith, your Family, and your Friends. Photograph taken at Senator Thurmond's 100th Birthday, Washington, D.C. 2002. Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, is assisting the family. Please sign the online guestbook at www.dunbarfunerals.com.