Ellen Martha Mohr

In the early morning hours of Friday, June 25th, 2021, Ellen passed away after a thirteen-month battle with pancreatic cancer while being attended by the gracious staff members at Hearthstone Senior Living Facility in Beaverton, Oregon.

Ellen was born in the town of Bad Kreuznach, Germany on October 1st, 1946. She was the first and only child of Kitty Bouchy. She never knew her DNA father who is said to have been French, but she was adopted by German dentist, Emile Schneider, who married her mother when Ellen was a young toddler. Her closest friend and playmate was her cousin, Vera (daughter of Kitty’s sister, Elsa).

Ellen’s early years in Germany weren’t lavish considering the destruction and scarce resources following WWII, but she was uplifted by the love and devotion of her grandmother, Eugenie Bouchy. When she was 11, Ellen’s mother and father decided to move the family to Canada. It wasn’t an easy transition for Ellen because she was placed directly into a French and English-speaking school. The family of three moved several times throughout North America before finally ending up in Beaverton Oregon for Ellen’s high-school years where she attended Sunset High School. By then she spoke English fluently and without any accent whatsoever. The constant moves through her formative years made it hard for Ellen to nurture close friendships which I think was a source of some sadness for her but made her a very social and loyal friend as the years progressed.

Ellen worked at her parent’s restaurant throughout high school and took a job as a secretary at Certified Freight upon graduation where she met her husband, Warren Martin Zielinski. They married in NE Portland in February 1966 surrounded by family and friends. On May 29th, 1967, Ellen welcomed her first daughter, Colette Rose Zielinski. Ellen loved being a mother. Three and a half years later, Ellen and Warren welcomed their second daughter, Anette Lynn Zielinski. Within mere days after Anette’s birth on October 13th, 1970, the family moved to Boise Idaho where they resided until 1974 before moving back to Beaverton, Oregon. Ellen enjoyed being on a bowling league, attending Blazer games and hosting Bunco parties.

In 1980 Ellen found herself in the unfortunate position of being a single mother. Her world was upended, and she had to hustle working several jobs to make ends meet. Working long hours while raising two teenage girls wasn’t easy for her, but Ellen was strong and determined to carve out a nice life for herself and her kids. She had moral support from friends like Harold Elliot, Kathy Thompson, Carol Edwards, Jane Spencer, and Pat Dale – all of whom were bright spots in her life.

Ellen’s favorite job was working at Nike in the accounting department. She had so much fun at that job and played a lot of pranks on her co-workers. The lightness of that environment brought Ellen much needed joy and she was forever grateful for the financial stability her job at Nike brought to her life and for the kind mentorship of her boss, Carl Menkel.

When her daughters moved on to college, Ellen visited them at University of Oregon every chance she got. She even made an unannounced visit once, causing Anette’s new boyfriend to hide in the shower wearing little more than boxers. Naturally, he got caught when Ellen needed to use the toilet. David popped out of the shower claiming to be the “cleaning lady.” That gave us the giggles for years to come. Good thing she was one of those cool Moms.

In 1995 Ellen wanted a change of pace and bought a house on a couple acres in Redmond Oregon. There, surrounded by the natural beauty of central Oregon, Ellen found peace. Around that time, an old high school boyfriend came back into her life and wooed her into marrying him. Ellen and Jim Mohr moved back to the Portland area and were married in 1999.

During the time they were married, Ellen and Jim enjoyed several trips around Oregon, Europe, and Australia often traveling with their friends Chet and Jane Spencer. These were happy days for Ellen, but the marriage wasn’t meant to last. Ellen and Jim remained friends until his death, and she held his hand as he passed.

Ellen loved her cats Venus and Guido and animals of all kinds. She watched all the wildlife shows with sincere reverence and had a particular fondness for Elephants. I asked her once why she loved elephants so much. She said it was because they were such protective, loving, loyal creatures and they were the best Moms. I think that says a lot about what she valued and who she chose to be.

Ellen was the most fiercely loyal Mom a daughter could ever hope for. She supported my decisions even when they were bad, but she wanted me to have what I wanted at any cost. Knowing someone was always in my corner gave my life the stability and sense of home I needed as I navigated the world on my own trying to make a life with purpose and meaning. She was my meaning. I’m so grateful I found my way back to Oregon in 2018 so that I had a couple good years with Mom before she took ill with cancer.

The year following her cancer diagnosis in May 2020 was terrifying and painful, but Ellen fought for her life. She endured many chemo and radiation treatments never losing her faith in God. The grace with which she accepted what was happening to her body astounded me. Knowing that pancreatic cancer wasn’t going to end well, I asked her if she was scared. She told me that God had always taken really good care of her and that she would be fine in His hands. She was so brave. She’d been brave her whole life. She’d had to be.

I wish Ellen had had an easier life and an easier passing. I wish I’d been a better daughter, able to show up for her in all the ways she would have liked, but there was love between us. We loved each other fiercely. I know this to be true and I can’t wait to tell her that again when we meet on the other side.

Ellen is survived by her daughters, Colette Johnson and Anette Zielinski. She chose to be cremated and said she didn’t care what we did with the ashes as long as we didn’t keep them in the house because, in her words, “that would be creepy.” I’ve spread some of the ashes in Highland Forest near the house we lived in for many years and where Mom and I would take long walks the last couple years. We feel the rest of her ashes should be scattered in the ocean at Pacific City and will do that Summer 2022.

A Celebration of Life was held for Ellen on what would have been her 75th birthday on October 1st, 2021 at one of her favorite restaurants, The Stockpot, in Progress, Oregon. The event was attended by her daughters and dear friends.

Special thanks to the care providers at Hearthstone Assisted Living facility in Beaverton and to all the kind doctors and nurses at Compass Oncology in Tigard who supported Ellen through her final year.

If you wish to honor Ellen in some way, donating to a local animal shelter, Wildlife Preservation, or Humane society would make her happy. Condolences can be sent to Ellen’s daughter’s as follows:

Colette Johnson: [email protected]

Anette Zielinski: [email protected]