CANAAN, Vermont, HENNIKER, New Hampshire, and PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – Ellen E. (Doon) Sipe died on July 16, 2018, at her home in Presque Isle, surrounded by her family. She was born in Henniker, NH, in 1930 to James W. and Helen C. (Sheehan) Doon.
Ellen grew up with her five brothers and sisters in an Irish Catholic family filled with love and civic duty. After graduating from Henniker High School, Ellen earned a bachelor’s degree in education from UNH and was, for several years, an elementary school teacher. After convincing her mother that it was perfectly acceptable for a good Catholic girl to marry the son of a Congregational minister, Ellen married Donald J. Sipe in 1954, and left teaching to care for her quickly expanding family. The mother of eight children, Ellen was proud to note that, at one point, she had six children under the age of six. Ellen was devoted to her husband and children, and felt their success was her greatest achievement.
After her husband’s death in 1989, Ellen went back to work as a teacher’s aide in Canaan, VT, retiring at age 80. Ellen was known for her quick wit and love of puns, and her kindness and good humor endeared her to those she met. Always positive, she accepted everyone with genuine grace and good will, welcoming her children’s friends, boyfriends and girlfriends, husbands and wives into her home for many a meal, game of bridge, and holiday gathering.
Ellen loved music and knew not only the great American song book but all the newest artists and songs as well. She was a wonderful pianist, learning to “play by ear” from her mother. Reluctant to play for others when younger, her children remember coming home quietly after school and hearing her play before she realized they were home. After her husband’s death, Ellen blossomed, writing lyrics and playing piano for the local school plays, entertaining her children when they came to visit, and playing for residents at the local nursing home.
For several years at the end of her life, Ellen lived with and was lovingly cared for by her youngest daughter, Melanie Reese, her husband, Craig, and son, Noah.
She is survived by her children and their partners, Linda and Richard Dennis, Cynthia O’Flynn and James Cyr, Donald J. Sipe and Corrine Bongiovanni, Alan and Deborah Sipe, Kevin Sipe, Melanie and Craig Reese, and Brian and Elaine Sipe. She is also survived by sixteen grandchildren, Richard Dennis, Thomas O’Flynn, Meghan Lepkowski, Brian O’Flynn, Donald J. Sipe, Kevin Sipe, Nathaniel Sipe, Brett Savage, Joshua Rashed, Sabrina Rashed, Alan Sipe, Samantha Sipe, Brigham Reese, Noah Reese, Daniel Sipe, and Benjamin Sipe and their families.
Ellen was predeceased by her parents and her husband, a daughter, Pamela, her twin brother, Alan Doon; her brothers, James Doon and Thomas Doon, and her sisters, Mary Doon Tippins and Lorna Doon, as well as a son-in-law, Thomas O’Flynn.
Calling hours were held at Duncan-Graves Funeral Home, 30 Church St., Presque Isle, from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. on Friday, July 20, 2018. Funeral services were held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 21, 2018, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Parish of the Precious Blood, Presque Isle. There was a gathering to celebrate Ellen’s life at the home of Melanie and Craig Reese, 20 Dennett Hill Rd, Presque Isle, immediately following the service. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the charity of your choice. Online condolences may be shared at www.duncan-graves.com
