Ellen Imogene Carey

Ellen Imogene Carey was born December 15, 1929 to Earl W. Carey and Esther M. Carey née Hoover, in Shelby, Ohio. Born and raised during The Great Depression on a rural Ohio farm, Ellen used her intelligence and courage to win a scholarship for college.

At the age of sixteen, she left Sydney, Ohio for the first time. She took a solo train ride to Cleveland to interview with Case Western University, arriving a day early with no place to stay. Industrious as always, Ellen found a ticketmaster who directed her to a boarding house. With the assistance of the owners of the boarding house, she was able to navigate the bus system and safely arrive at her interview. It went well, and a letter soon followed with news of her scholarship! It included full tuition and board, but no meal plan. Ellen went hungry during her first weeks of college, but she soon found employment and, as the second World War drew to a close, embarked on her education in earnest.

She worked her way through a Bachelor’s of Science from Case Western, graduating in 1950. She found employment as a lab technician, both in Ohio and then in Oregon at The Old Doernbecher Hospital in Diagnostic Pediatrics, where she ended her successful career as a hospital epidemiologist.

Ellen’s zest for living was infectious, one of her secrets to longevity was her positive attitude. One could overhear her “That was the best I ever had” in reference to something she ate; or “That’s the best I’ve ever seen” of a sunset. She was always intensely curious and sought answers through science-based literature.

Ellen married James E. Weiss on March 16th 1950 (d.1978). Ellen had five children with “Jim”: Jedric M. Weiss, Thomas A. Weiss (Inga Johnson), Joel J. Weiss (d. 2018), Laura J. Glassford, and Barbara E. Hermens (Gregory L. Hermens). With Jim, she moved the family from the Midwest to Oregon to begin a new chapter.

Ellen married Robert Johnson on April 30th 1986 (d. 2003). Bob provided her with five step children whom she loved dearly. Ellen and Bob traveled extensively and were masters at bridge, winning many competitions throughout the state.

Ellen is survived by her sister Marjorie Chipouras and was preceded in death by her brother Robert W. Carey (d. 1996).

Ellen was very involved with her grandchildren: Katherine Provancher, Jessica Weiss, James Hermens (d. 2014), Sam Weiss (Candy Tan), Ilisa Weiss, Juliet Coen (Ryan Coen), Karli Gieben, Travis Bauer, and Taylor Bauer. She also had great grandchildren: Fin Gutmann, Ellen Coen, and Conall Coen.

Ellen had numerous friends through the years. Most recently, she had close connections with Nancy McMackin, Georgia Lang and Susan Anderson.

Ellen passed on a great many traits to her heirs. With a voracious love of reading, she read at least 3-5 books a week until she could no longer see. Ellen’s appreciation for the outdoors taught us all to respect nature, and to take care with our “footprint.” Ellen created art for most of her adult life, watercolor paints were her favorite medium. While her children were still young, she held a weekly painting session with close family friends, the Boltons, as a way of encouraging artistic expression.

She also traveled Europe, Russia, all of the USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Norway, Ireland, and Greece.

Identifying as an ardent feminist, she loved talking politics as long as you were on the right (left) side.

An avid gardener, she was a member of the community gardens in Multnomah for over twenty years, and influenced many of us to grow our own food.

We say goodbye with sadness, love, and appreciation for her gifts to all of us.