Obituary of Ellen "Ellie" Snodgrass
Mrs. Ellen Snodgrass was born in Massachusetts, USA on November 3, 1959.
Ellen… was first a daughter…. Ellen was a daddy’s girl, her father Jerry, like most dads, was her first love, she loved his quiet strength, and his kindness. Her father Jerry has been gone for 37 years, never a day went by she didn’t think of him.
Ellen was also a sister to her beloved brother Steve, Steve was her big brother, her hero, his shadow growing up. Steve was never supposed to go before her, Steve passed just 14 months ago with Cancer. We can only imagine the happy reunion that happened when Ellen joined her Dad and Steve.
Ellen has one sister, Jill. Jill was her big sister, Ellen loved her for her kind heart, and thoughtful ways, and loved that she got to share her life with you.
But….. most importantly, Ellen was a wife to Donnie, and a mom to Ben, and a soon to be mother-in-law to Heather.
Ellen was many things to many people, she was a dear daughter-in-law, a dear sister-in-law, a wonderful aunt, and a godmother to Deanna. Making friend was always easy for Ellen, wherever she went, she’d add a new friendship.
Ellen was born in Hubbard’s Nova Scotia, her beloved Hubbard’s, she loved her childhood growing up on the Atlantic Ocean, she always said she had salt in her veins, wind in her hair and sunshine in her soul. Their family grew up in a beautiful older home along the coast, with a view of the water, the beach was her playground, the water was her bathtub, and beach sand built her castles. She had a magical childhood.
Ellen moved to Saint John as a teenager, Saint John was never her home the way Hubbard’s was. Her gypsy soul, moved her around the city. When the gypsy in Ellen met Donnie, they moved to Rothesay, where they spent many years on Cameron Road. They decided to make a third person in their family, along came Ben, everything in their world changed. They watched this young boy grow up, they loved him threw the scraped knees, the school years, and yes, the party years.
As life moves on they decided to move to the quiet town of Sussex, were they still are. They bought a house, renovating it and making it their home.
Over the years, they’ve trailered at many camp grounds, then settled into being a seasonal at Scenic View for many years…. The made many life-long friends, became golfers, and learned to party there.
Later they traded that in for a warmth of Florida for the winters. When Ellen’s health became too bad to stay there medically they came home and Donny bought her the sweetest cottage on Grand Lake.
She was finally at home, her paradise, her view every day started with sitting in her screen room looking at the lake, both Ellen and Donny enjoyed may hours of boating and just relaxing at the cottage, listening to the birds sing, watching nature around them, the deer and the otters and her precious cat Tucker endlessly hunt for anything that moved. She always said the Lake was her Happy Place… where she was her best.
Ellen was Donnie’s everything, his wife, his best friend. She believed the same of him, she believed Donnie was the fire that lite her soul, Ellen loved that he worked hard, he never gave up, and struggled, to give her & Ben all the things that made their life happy, she loved their home together, the trailer, Florida, the cottage, the travelling, the places they’d been together, all across Canada, and the US, they both shared in each other’s humor, sense of adventure, and most of all laughter and a life time of love.
Ben… Ellen gave you life, she saw you take your first breath, and you saw her take her last. There was a lot of life between your first breath and her last, she watched you grow into the man you are today, Ellen adored you Ben, she was proud to be your Mother. She loved how she raised a son to respect his momma, and you never failed to call her wanting to know about her day and how she was. She loved knowing what you were up to… in all parts of your life. She believed you were the very best part of her.
The day Ellen met Heather, she knew that Ben had met the next important lady in your life, she knew he had found someone who would love him for who he is, and be his partner in life.
Heather the care you provided for Ellen the last weeks of her life was nothing short of amazing, you displayed so much compassion, your gentle touch, your gentle words, your constant care was God given. And she loved you… Her boys … her beloved boys never left her side, they loved her enough to let her go, they watched as they lost the most beautiful of souls slip quietly out of their reach.
Ellen loved her life, all of it, she had many stories she loved to tell and laugh and talk about. She loved a good party, and good times with her friends. Ellen was not a complicated person, all she needed were people around, her coolers, her smokes, some good tunes and she believed she had it all.
“God saw that you were getting tired, a cure was not to be found, so He put an arm around you and whispered, “come to me”. And you left us. A beautiful soul will never be forgotten…. Gone…. but never forgotten. Till we meet again.
She will live on in the hearts of her loving husband, Don; their son, Benjamin and his fiancée Heather Woods of Fort Saskatchewan; her sister, Jill Conrad of Halifax; her father and mother-in-law, Bill and Connie Snodgrass of Kingston Peninsula; her sister-in-law, Barb Conrad; as well as several nieces, nephews, friends and extended family.
Mrs. Ellen Snodgrass of Sussex Corner passed away with her family at her side on March 6, 2018 at the age of 58.
She is predeceased by her father, Gerald Conrad; her stepfather, Bud McKenzie and by her brother, Stephen Conrad.
Arrangements have been entrusted to the compassionate care of Wallace Funeral Home,
If you are considering making a memorial donation the family has requested the SPCA, CARMA or the charity of your choice.
