The Rev. Eleanor “Ellie” S. Duhamel, spouse of the Rev. Marcel Duhamel, died on 22 Aug 2021, at the age of 78. She died peacefully at home of complications resulting from pancreatic cancer. Her husband and daughter attended.
Ellie, as she preferred to be called, was born in Stoneham, Massachusetts, on 28 Nov 1942. After graduating from Westwood High School in 1961, Ellie attended the Boston Conservatory at Berklee to study ballet. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, in 1964, with a Bachelor of Arts in English.
In 1965, she married Thomas E. Flanagan, and moved to Durham, North Carolina, to teach 8th grade while Tom attended grad school. In 1968, Ellie and Tom moved to Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where she taught kindergarten. Ellie returned to the States in 1972 and continued to teach in the Rochester, New Hampshire, school system. She married Lewis B. Sykes in 1978.
In 1995, she received a Master of Divinity from Andover Newton Theological School. She taught Religious Education in the Unitarian Universalist tradition and became a credentialed religious educator, Master level in 2003. Ellie was ordained in 2004 to the ministry of Religious Education by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Concord, New Hampshire. Ellie and Marcel married at the Concord church on 1 Jan. 2005. Together, they served interim ministries in Ottawa, Ontario; Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; and Kennebunk, Maine. After retirement, they settled in Winslow, Maine.
Ellie was an avid knitter, quilter, and seamstress. She had a deep commitment to friendship. Ellie listened intently, provided advice that was needed, and often had a humorous quip to lighten the mood. She kept an affection for Star Island. She worked her first season there in 1961 and returned to the island for many years to work and volunteer. She was pleased to visit it one last time in June.
Ellie is survived by her husband; her son Thomas C. Flanagan, and his wife, Leslie; her daughter, Melissa Bailey; her son, Peter Sykes, and his wife, Audra; her stepsons Marcel C. Duhamel and wife, Jacqueline, and Paul E. Duhamel, and his wife, Tess; her grandchildren; and by her brother, Donald E. Smith.
Memorial donations may be made to the Star Island Corporation (https://starisland.org/donate/) or the Wounded Warrior Project (https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org)