Ellen R. Edelen

Beloved wife of Donald E. Edelen (deceased). Dear mother of Mike, Jack (Melissa), Nancy (Lynn) Lohman and Julie (Eric) Levine. Loving grandmother of Nathan, Derek, Alexandra, Samantha, Shannon, Sarah, Scott, Lillie, Justin, Elena, Jacob and Joshua. Sister of John L Bowling Jr.

All visitation and services are family only due to COVID. Interment is at Glen Eden Memorial Park.

Mom had a lot of hobbies and activities:

• She was a crossword puzzle enthusiast, a day didn’t go by when she wouldn’t master the newspaper’s difficult puzzles from beginning to end in a single sitting.

• Mom loved bridge – this passion started at an early age. She owned the Bridge book by Charles Goren, Goren’s Bridge Complete. She participated in Bridge clubs in both Louisville and in Livonia.

• Mom was very active in the church. She worked as an administrator for Bishop Alex Brunette and Father Flannery, at St Aidan’s Church, for over 20 years. She diligently produced the weekly bulletin for weekend Masses and planned countless activities for the parish. She truly kept the parish office running.

• Prior to working at St Aidan’s, Mom was a well-respected administrator for St John’s Seminary in Plymouth. In addition to managing the office affairs, she became good friends with several of the seminarians. These young men were often lonely and missed their homes; there were many times she had several of the guys over for a home-cooked meal on Saturday night. Included in this group were very young seminarians: Dave Buersmeyer and Tom Belczak.

• Upon moving to Michigan, Mom got interested in golf. She eventually joined a woman’s league and was able to golf with our Dad.

• When Mom and Dad purchased a sail boat, which was named the Ellen Rose, Mom took up the new hobby of sailing. This was something they learned to do together.

• As many people know, Mom had three children that became competitive swimmers. She was a very active participant in various swim team activities and also was involved in the management and administration of the swim teams.

• Mom was determined to have her kids learn new things, so she signed us up for various baseball, football, ballet, swimming and learning a musical instrument activity. We are all grateful for the opportunities all this opened up for us.

• Mom loved to travel. This began when the four of us were youngsters and every year we had an annual vacation to Washington DC, California, Mount Rushmore, and Colorado. In her later years, she and Dad and her close friends made several trips to Europe and a few cruises.

• In more recent years, she traveled and with our Aunt Ruthie to Europe and Morocco. As well as traveling with St Aidan’s Parish to Peru and China. Her last international trip was to China.

• Mom was a firm believer in education and was very active in planning and helping us all with our schooling.

• On top of all this, she loved to keep a garden. We had tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, mint, currants. The tomatoes were doubly good because you could harvest the ripe tomatoes or pick them early for fried green ones.

• Her mind was ever inquisitive, curious and exploratory: examples are learning to ice skate (not a common past-time in Kentucky) and fly fishing.

• She loved to read and loved old movies. Mike especially enjoyed this side of her and were constantly talking about the old TCM movies and recommending new books to each other.

• All of us gorged endlessly on the chicken and dumplings and the currant jelly (freshly canned from the garden).

• Her wisdom was well known. She always was willing and ready to talk to her friends and family to help them through whatever problems may plague them.

• Her friends were precious to her. She willingly stepped up to help anyone who needed her--whether the problems were small or huge. One of her most incredible gifts was her ability to develop lifelong friendships with whomever she interacted. From St. Aidan’s parish, her Bridge Club, her Golf Leagues, her work, their sailboat, her trips, her children’s and grandchildren’s activities, and even in the delivery room where she gave birth to our sister Julie—if she met you, you were drawn to her and became her lifelong friend.

• She was a member of the “Purple Gang”, not the 1930’s gangsters, but the group described in the poem by Jenny Joseph entitled When I Am Old. Please read it when you get the chance.

This list is not the limit. She was busy all the time and was involved in activities too numerous to count. All of us loved, admired and were very grateful for the hard work and sacrifice she put into everything.

We will miss you and love you for the rest of our lives.

Please share a memory of Ellen or condolences with her family at her online guest book.