Eleanor
Marie Shepardson passed away on January
15th, 2019 after a courageous battle with pulmonary fibrosis.
Eleanor (Ellie) was born on January 3rd, 1937 to George and
Sophie Placzek in Westfield Massachusetts. She was a
graduate of Westfield High School. Eleanor went on to attend
the University of Massachusetts where she earned a Bachelors
of Arts degree as well as a Master of Arts degree in history. She
studied Law at Western New England College where
she received her Juries Doctor degree. Ellie passed the
Bar exam in both Massachusetts and Maine where she practiced law for over
10 years. After receiving the calling, Ellie attended
the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA and received
a Masters of Divinity, and became an ordained Minister
of the United Church of Christ. The ordainment ceremony
was performed at the First Congregational Church in Westfield,
Massachusetts.
Ellie
then became the Director at the Saint
Mary's Center in Oakland California where she assisted Homeless
seniors. As both an Attorney and Minister,
she dedicated her life to serving people who were
less fortunate. She did this with exceptional empathy and
compassion; often not accepting payment for services
to others.
Ellie
spent time on both coasts. She drove across the country
several times camping along the way and also flew across country
multiple times spending several months at a time on each coast. She
was very involved in politics, Women's rights and
was a warrior against injustice. She attended
the First Women’s Conference in Texas in 1975 and the National
Women's March in both 2017 & 2018. She
was a huge fan of the Rachel Maddow show. Those who were close
to her knew better than to try and disturb her when Rachel
was on.
Ellie
was an avid reader and would often
read four or five books all at the same time. She
loved gardening and would often say how
working in the Earth made her feel more connected to the planet.
She loved to help things grow and gardening helped keep
her centered and grounded. Her love of the great outdoors included
camping in
Vermont and among the magnificent redwoods in northern California. Ellie
loved to cook and was always willing to try new recipes; especially
on her children. She loved baseball and
was an avid fan of the Boston Red Sox. At
the age of six, she knew every player and their statistics
on the entire Red Sox roster! She was thrilled to
have seen
the
Red Sox win four World Series in the last fifteen years.
Her
favorite time of year was Christmas. Ellie loved everything about
this holiday. She loved to cook for her family and sing Christmas
carols. Ellie would often start playing Christmas music in August. If
you were fortunate to be around her during the Christmas season, you
couldn't help to feel her positive energy, love and joy.
Ellie
is pre-deceased by her brother George
and his wife Jackie from Enfield, Ct. She is survived by
her brother Vincent and his wife Kathy; her brother Steve
and his wife Lori all from Westfield, Massachusetts. She
also leaves four children: her son Steve and his partner Eileen from
West Springfield, Massachusetts;
her daughters Lisa and her husband Jay from Southampton,
Massachusetts; Ann and her husband Michael from Oakland,
California; and her son Peter from South Hadley, Massachusetts.
She had five grandchildren: Stephanie, Heather,
Zachary, Sarah and Melissa as well as many nephews & nieces.
Ellie
was a very kind, passionate, generous soul who will be greatly missed.
In lieu of flowers we ask that you consider making donations to:
The
Pulmonary
Fibrosis
Foundation and/or The
Breast Cancer Foundation.
https://www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org/ways-to-give/donate-now
https://give.bcrf.org/give/31404/#!/donation/checkout
