Growing up in Boston, Ellen never imagined she would one day spend most of her life just steps away from the “Jerry Jingle Highway” she knew so well from her family’s weekly trips to their Hampton Beach cottage.

Over time, Ellen came to love everything about Melrose – its Victorian architecture, its proximity to Boston, its schools, and most of all, her neighbors. She gave back generously to her community, serving on the board of the Friends of the Melrose Library and working as a library assistant at the Winthrop School while her daughters progressed through the Melrose school system. Both daughters attended the Winthrop Elementary School and graduated from Melrose High School – a point of great pride for Ellen as she watched them flourish in the same community she had come to love so deeply.

Ellen was affectionately known as “Sparky” to her six grandchildren, who were the joy of her life and whom she loved dearly.  She was intimately involved in their lives, and loved hearing about their adventures, their friends, and their school days, and she rarely missed a chance to cheer them on from the sidelines – whether it was hockey, soccer, or any other sport. She loved watching them play sports – so many sports.  Despite years of being a hockey grandmother, she never quite mastered the lesson that you always need to dress for winter inside the rink.

Sparky was a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother – but she was also so much more.

She was OFD (Originally From Dorchester), and proud of her Dorchester roots, her family, and the lifelong friends she made there. Ellen was a Friend. She enjoyed many wonderful friendships, some going as far back as kindergarten, others from high school and nursing school, and still others that she met as an adult. She cherished her relationships with all.

Ellen was a nurse, and she loved being a nurse. A graduate of the Boston City Hospital School of Nursing, Ellen spent more than four decades caring for children and families, most of them in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Ellen cared deeply about her young patients and their families. Her daughters, Lisa and Jessica,  grew up hearing stories of the kids she cared for – the warnings of what not to do when she saw the results of accidents, the stories of the kids who spent weeks or even months in the ICU.

Ellen loved the nurses she worked with, and her colleagues were like a second family to her. She was a real Nurse’s nurse – once her daughters were grown, she would often volunteer to work on holidays so the nurses with young children could be at home with their families.

Ellen was a terrific Cook and Hostess. She loved food and loved to cook for her family and friends. Of Irish/Lithuanian heritage, Ellen learned to cook Italian food to fit in with her Italian American in law family.

Friends of friends often referred to her as “the chicken wing lady.”

Ellen took great pride in her home and loved hosting people in Melrose and on the Cape. She was like a low-key Martha Stewart before we knew Martha.

Ellen was a Menace on the dance floor at family weddings.  She loved a fun party, loved weddings, and dancing to the YMCA or Donna Summer’s Last Dance, or one of her favorite Jimmy Buffet songs. She always brought great energy to a party.

To honor Ellen’s life and legacy, the Ellen Adomunes Herrington Memorial Scholarship Fund was established. The scholarship will support students pursuing nursing education, a tribute to Ellen’s lifelong devotion to her patients and her profession.

Each year, the Ellen Adomunes Herrington Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to a student pursuing a career in nursing.

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