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In Memory

Edna May Vansant (Ellis) - Class Of 1940

Edna May Vansant (Ellis)

YARMOUTH - Edna May Ellis died on June 8, 2019, in Yarmouth, ME. Born March 24, 1923, in Holmesburg, PA, Edna was second daughter of Ethel and Edward B. Vansant. She graduated from Bensalem Township High School in 1940, winning the PTA trophy for outstanding senior. In 1944 she earned an RN from the University of Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing. She met her future husband, when he was admitted as a patient on the men’s ward where she was assistant head nurse and ward instructor.

After their marriage in June 1945, she worked for a short time as a visiting nurse in the Roslindale neighborhood in Boston before the couple moved to Portland when her husband was hired as a radio announcer on the new ABC affiliate radio station WPOR. Edna worked on the maternity floor of the Maine General Hospital until their first child, Nancy, was born. After the births of daughter Jean and son Robert, her husband entered the Methodist ministry in June 1953.

The family lived in South Eliot, Brunswick, South Portland and Fairfield, Maine. Edna was a stay-at-home mom, active in the local church and the state Woman’s Society of Christian Service, until 1968 when she attended USM. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1972 and then commuted to Boston University where she received a Master of Science degree in Mental Health Nursing in 1973.

She served on the faculty of the USM School of Nursing from 1973 until 1977. She and her husband then moved to Fairfield, where she was employed as a home health nurse in the mental health field and later worked on the in-patient psychiatric unit at Thayer Hospital in Waterville. Upon moving back to the Portland area in 1983, she rejoined the USM College of Nursing faculty until her retirement ten years later. She was active in the Archangel Committee, supporting the Portland-Archangel sister city relationship, for several years, taking part in several exchange trips to Russia and developing some close friendships there.

Her hobbies included sewing, knitting, crocheting, piano playing, her beloved computer puzzles and games, and gardening. She was especially proud of achieving her Master Gardener qualification and had many bountiful gardens. She continued expanding her knowledge participating in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at USM and Midcoast Senior College.

In November 2004 she and her husband moved to a retirement residence, Sunnybrook Village in Brunswick. In addition to caring for her husband, she volunteered to encourage recycling, helping with sing-a-longs in a pinch and card playing in the early evenings.

She was predeceased by her husband, the Rev. S. Blake Ellis; a sister, Etta Vansant Yehle; a brother, Edward B. Vansant, Jr.; and a son-in-law, Claude Guilbault. She is survived by daughter Rev. Nancy Curtis and her husband William of Asheville, NC; daughter Jean Guilbault of Brunswick, ME; and son Robert Ellis and his wife Meg of Fairfield Center, ME; nine grandchildren; and nineteen great-grandchildren.

Condolences may be expressed online at www.hobbsfuneralhome.com.

Memorials may be made to the Brunswick United Methodist Church or the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union).



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