Ellen Marie Westbrook

Ellen was born on 10/13/1948 in Denver, Colorado to her parents Carl Francis Parker and Arline Marie Heilman Parker at Rose Memorial Hospital. She and her older sister Nancy were proud Colorado natives with several generations of Coloradans before them and after them. While growing up with two physical education teachers for parents she spent her formative years in constant motion in the outdoors, in the community, and in organizations like the Campfire Girls.

While attending high school at Aurora Central, she met her husband, Jerry. Together they shared an insatiable love of music and the world at large as it unfolded in front of them. In the Spring of 1970 Ellen and Jerry were married. They bought a house four years later where they settled in Aurora, CO to raise their kids.

Ellen worked as a substitute teacher for a few years before working in human resources for multiple federal agencies. Work was not her defining factor though, rather it was the joy she got from family and her multitude of activities she participated in over the years. There was a gardening club, the Colorado Water Garden Society, the Aurora Artists Guild, the Aurora Art In Public Places (AIPP) program, and others. There is a through line that you may have already come to see… Ellen saw beauty and life in everything she encountered. Her love of plants and art were omnipresent.

It was in her home in Aurora that she passed, quietly and at peace. At home with her husband. At home where she raised two kids and watched eight grandchildren laugh and play. She was a quiet woman with a gentle way about her, but her actions and passion in life echo loudly in the hearts of those who knew her.