Ellen L. Shoun, 95, of Bronson died on September 5, 2021, three days shy of her 96th birthday, at Drews Place of Coldwater.
A memorial service will be held at the Bronson United Methodist Church at a future date to be determined.
Ellen Stratton Llewellyn was born September 8, 1925, to William Thomas Llewellyn and Ella Hall Llewellyn of Hatboro, Pennsylvania. She grew up in this suburb of Philadelphia and attended the local public schools through 9th grade.
Her family’s religious background was in the Society of Friends (“Friends” also known as Quakers). She then transferred to the Westtown School, a Friends boarding school near West Chester, Pennsylvania, where she graduated in 1943.
She entered Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry in 1947. Following graduation, she worked as a chemist for two years for the American Cyanamid Company in Stamford, Connecticut.
She married Glenn Harte Shoun in the Horsham, Pennsylvania Friends Meeting on June 25, 1949. They moved to Oberlin where Glenn was completing his studies in the seminary and began his pastoral career. Their first child, Mary Deborah, was born in 1952 in Lake Wales, Florida where Glenn worked in a Missionary Training Center. They then moved to Hartford, Ohio where Glenn was ordained and served as pastor of the Hartford Community Church from 1952 to 1958.
They served the Watervliet, Michigan Plymouth Congregational Church from 1958 to 1963, and moved to Bronson, Michigan in 1963 to serve at its First Congregational United Church of Christ until 1967. During these years, two sons, Paul (1954), and Peter (1958), and two more daughters, Eleanor (1956), and Elizabeth (1964), joined the family.
Ellen started teaching math and science in Bronson Community High School in 1967 and continued to do so until 1979. She earned an M.A. in Education at Western Michigan University in 1972. Her final position was as reference librarian at the Branch District Library in Coldwater, where she remained until 1999.
Ellen helped organize the Bronson Recycling Project (“BEGGARS”) in 1972 while teaching. The idea was inspired by her master’s thesis, which was focused on recycling. The recycling center operated continuously and was eventually managed by the Bronson Kiwanis Club (of which husband Glenn was a member and the greatest steward of the center) until it was taken over by Bronson’s waste hauler.
With other members of the Bronson United Methodist Church, she was instrumental in sponsoring refugee families from both Vietnam and Cambodia in the 1970s and 80s. She was an active member of the Branch County Chapter of the Michigan Association of Retired School Personnel (MARSP). Its state organization awarded her their Distinguished Service Award in 2002.
In 2007 she received the Branch County Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year award. She was one of those directly involved in the founding of the Bronson Community Food Pantry and served as its director for 20 years from its beginning in 1993 until her retirement in 2013. She was inducted into the Bronson High School Hall of Fame in January 2018 for her many contributions to the community.
Ellen was known by her many friends for a variety of things; among them, a fierce love of Scrabble, knitting sweaters, hats, and mittens, being the best pie baker in town and her love of singing, which she did for many decades in the Methodist church choir. She was frequently the alto soloist for its choral numbers.
Ellen is survived by daughter Deborah Stalek (Torbern) of Klintehamn, Sweden, Paul L. Shoun of Chicago, IL, Eleanor Mudrick (Carl) of Honolulu, HI, Peter G. Shoun and Josh Rahr of Chicago, IL, and Elizabeth (Curt) Lavender of Galesville, WI. She is also survived by 8 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.
She was predeceased by her husband Glenn, her parents, and her siblings Robert, Walter and Mary.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial gifts in Ellen’s honor may be made to the Bronson Community Food Pantry c/o Judy Carpenter, 1103 Carpenter Road, Bronson, MI 49028.
Arrangements are being cared for by Dutcher Funeral Home. www.dutcherfh.com
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