Obituary of Eleanor Browne

Eleanor L. “Ellie” Browne passed away unexpectedly while on vacation in Florida on March 16, 2010. She was 88 years old. Ellie was born in Somerville, the daughter of the late Manuel and Rena Neves. She grew up in Arlington. She graduated from Arlington High School in 1939 and then received an Associate’s Degree from Fisher Business School. She married her husband Bob 48 years ago. They made their home in Burlington for 36 years before moving to Wilmington. Ellie had worked as a secretary at Arthur D. Little for 25 years. Ellie was a vibrant woman. She was extremely active at the Burlington Council on Aging where she worked as a secretary and volunteer. She ran countless trips, parties, and helped in the kitchen. She brought enthusiasm to any event she attended. She was a member of the HONS (Helping Our Noble Serve), which is the women’s group of the Shriners. She enjoyed spending the winters with friends in Florida. She was even a member of a musical band. She loved to travel and see exotic destinations. She has ridden camels, visited ancient ruins, appreciated fine art, and made the most of her life. Ellie was the Beloved wife of Robert Browne. Sister-in-law of Beryl A. Browne of Arlington and Rosemary Tyler of Florida. She was the stepmother of Robert Brown of Westford. She was predeceased by her sister, Norma Simeone. She was a special aunt of Carol Reddersen and Great-Aunt of Jenna Goddard both of CA.. A memorial service will be held at the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn St., BURLINGTON (exit 34 off Rt. 128, Woburn side) on Monday, May 10 at Noon. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited. Memorials in Ellie’s name may be made to the Shriner’s Burns Institute, 51 Blossom Street, Boston, MA 02114, http://www.shrinershq.org/Hospitals/Boston/ For directions, obituary & online guestbook see www.sullivanfuneralhome.net Carol's words of remembrance You may know her as Ellie, but I know her as “Auntie”. I wanted to speak a few words today to honor her memory – from the perspective of her family – as her niece. Eleanor Loretta Neves was born March 21, 1921. Her life was relatively quiet - at least for a while – until March 31, 1930 when her baby sister, Norma, MY mother, was born. Auntie always said Norma was the queen of the Neves home. In fact, I think Norma wholeheartedly agreed with her! Ellie was the serious one of the sisters and did very well in school. In her Arlington High School yearbook it even said “she dotes on neatness and promptness”. Life changed a bit when Ellie’s little sister married and became pregnant. Ellie told Norma “you better have a girl – because I will never babysit a boy”! Well luckily… here “I” am! On that day she became “Auntie”. So while you know her as Ellie, I know her as “Auntie”. And Auntie was always a part of my life from the first day I was born. Auntie lived downstairs from me growing up. She first lived there with her parents (my grandparents) and later with her husband Bob. Auntie remembered my ponytail swinging around as I played. She remembered me coming downstairs crying when my parents fought and later divorced. She was there for me to babysit when my mother went to Europe and other vacations. She was there for me when I sooooo wanted a new bike for Christmas. She bought it for me and hid it --- because she knew I would creep downstairs to peek through the mail slot in her door very early Christmas morning. And she remembered the time when I excitedly looked forward to her homemade strawberry shortcake desert – only to scream “WHAT ARE YOU DOING????” when she actually began to put strawberries on it. Apparently I wanted the strawberry shortcake but with no strawberries. She always brought that story up with a laugh! Auntie continued to be there for me when her husband Bob would ruthlessly tease me. And Oh boy would he tease me! But she would say: “BOB LEAVE THE KID ALONE”….no matter that HE was her beloved husband…she was there for ME. Bob loves her as Ellie….I love her as “Auntie”. Over the years Bob and Ellie moved to Burlington and later Wilmington. I grew up and moved out to the west coast, got married and had a baby. Through all those changes in my life Auntie was always there for me. Auntie then showed the same love and care to my daughter Jenna as she did to me. Time and distance could not separate us. We remained very close. Since I was like the daughter she never had and Jenna was like her granddaughter -- she was always happy to talk to us, proud of our accomplishments, and sad for our disappointments. I had the pleasure of talking to Auntie every day during her many weeks in the hospital and rehab facility. We would chat and laugh and she would want to hear about the latest stars I would see in Los Angeles that week. And was disappointed I still hadn’t seen Charlie Sheen her favorite TV star – she loved to watch “2 ½ Men”. Also during those conversations she would share little nuggets of information and stories from her childhood and from mine. What a treat that was! One story we reminisced about was our M&M story. Auntie worked for many years for Mr. Hanley at Arthur D. Little. On her way home from work she would stop and buy “little Carol” a treat…”M&Ms”. She did this for many weeks until little Carol apparently was bored with them, said “yuck” and threw them away. Well Auntie would have none of that behavior and stopped buying them for me. Obviously I very soon missed them and the sweet little kid I was ;-) charmed her and the M&Ms re-appeared. To THIS day I absolutely love M&Ms and always think of Auntie when I buy some. Today I brought some M&Ms to share with all of you. Please have some…and please think of “Auntie”. Because you knew her as Ellie…. I knew her as AUNTIE. Rest in peace Auntie….with love from the “California Girls”!