(nee Pamphilon)
Ellen passed on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at Cascade Hospice in Chilliwack at the age of 97.
Ellen was born on June 10, 1914 in Biggar, Sask. to Horace and Lillian Pamphilon. She was the eldest of five children. Ellen graduated as a registered nurse in 1937 in London, England. She married Reginald Brown on October 6, 1938 in London and they had four children. She later returned to nursing in 1959 having qualified as a Queen’s District Nurse, and was privileged to be invited to a tea party for all the Queen’s District Nurses which was held on the lawn of Buckingham Palace.
Her husband Reginald died in 1959. Shortly thereafter Ellen returned to Canada with her two youngest children and worked as a registered nurse at a hospital in Saskatoon. She graduated as a Public Health Nurse from Dalhousie University in 1972 and went to work with the First Nations Indians, first at Alexis Creek in the Chilcotins and later in Lytton.
Having retired, she moved to Kelowna where she met and married William Olson on October 11, 1978. They eventually settled in Chilliwack. William died in 1996. Ellen later married Colin Crutch on December 27, 2000 in Chilliwack and lived in Sardis from 2000 until her passing in 2012. She was an active member of the St. Mary’s Catholic Women’s League.
Ellen is survived by her husband Colin; her two daughters: Margaret and Julia; her two sons, Rowland and Philip; seven grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
The funeral service will be held on Tuesday, June 26, 2012 at 2:00 pm at St. Mary’s Catholic Church on Mary Street, Chilliwack. A reception for family and friends will follow in the Church Hall. In lieu of flowers donations to the Chilliwack Hospice would be appreciated.