Ellen Ivy Brotman

Ellen Ivy Brotman passed away at the age of 79 on Friday April 24, 2026, at 7:55 pm. Ellie, as she was known to her friends and family, was born and raised in Queens, NY and she was a Queens girl to the very end. She was never shy with her opinions, and you knew how much she loved you based on how often she gave you a hard time, her wonderful sense of humor and zest for life coming through with each zinger. She was raised by her parents, Dave and Anne. Anne was a refugee from Poland, her family having fled between several countries from pogroms and the Nazis before coming to the US. Ellie grew up adoring her big brother, Jerry who, she would tell with great pride, once let her play second base for one of he and his friends’ sandlot baseball games. That is, not at second base but to be second base.

Ellen was incredibly proud of the highly successful interior design business she started in her late twenties. While Ellie worked with many couples beautifying their homes, she relished – and flourished at – her work designing restaurants. These included many of the Washington, DC area’s top restaurants such as L’Auberge Chez Francois and La Colline, as well as standouts further out, including the Tuscarora Mill in Leesburg and Magnolia’s in Purcellville. They also included, with her associate, Tobi Yum, a Burger King in Georgetown that was converted from a firehouse and looked like no other Burger King you’ve ever seen. As she wound down her business, she turned her attention to her volunteer work for SCORE mentoring people starting out small businesses, work she loved and was passionate about.

But most important to Ellie was her family. Her marriage to Sanford (Sandy) Brotman was a second chance. And two people could not have been better for one another. First, they were madly in love. Secondly, their rapport was, in turn, witty and goofy, intellectual and wise, deep and emotional. They shared a love of the arts and loved to learn from each other. Either a close second or a tie was her love for Sandy’s kids from his first marriage, Dana and Dave. As Sandy called her, “the rookie” took to mothering right away and opened her heart completely to these two kids, who were at the fairly difficult ages of 13 and 11 respectively when she entered their life as their father’s girlfriend. In fact, she referred to herself, in an exaggerated Queens accent, as “The Muthah.” And mother them she did, giving them kindness, generosity, consistency and a keen interest in their minds. She brought that same big-heartedness when she met Dana’s boyfriend, now husband, Mike. But her love for her grandchildren Anna and Jacob was over the top. She adored them and cherished them. And they, like the rest of her family, adored and cherished her in return.

Ellie is survived by her husband of 48 years, Sandy Brotman and her children, Dana Brotman and David Brotman, her grandchildren Anna Brotman-Krass and Jacob Brotman-Krass, as well as her son-in-law, Michael Krass. A committal service will be held in honor of Ellie at King David Memorial Gardens on Tuesday April 28, 2026 at 11 am. A lunch will be held at Dana & Mike's residence following the graveside at 12:30PM. Please join us for Shiva with the family Tuesday between 7 pm and 8:30 pm at Dana and Mike's.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Bethany House of Northern Virginia