Many thanks to everyone who attended Ella's memorial service, or sent their condolences.
The program for the service is available here.
Here are the texts of (most of) the speaker's remarks:
Denise Brown, director of the Montclair High School Dance Company where Ella danced all through High School, dedicated this year's performance to Ella - see the dedication in the program.
The Macalester Theatre and Dance Department Spring Concert Program also dedicated the performance to Ella, and donated proceeds to her fund.
I had the privilege of knowing Ella her entire life; however I have been asked by the family to talk about Ella the young woman.
Soon after Ella graduated she came to work with me at Weight Watchers. We were tasked with building a program for members with type II diabetes.
Ella's responsibilities spanned from all things administrative to statistical analysis. She recently expanded her role to work with our science department's research team.
However it is not what Ella did that stood out but how she did what she did. In working with Ella it quickly became apparent that she had a sense of the larger world. She understood the importance of preventing disease and promoting health. She believed strongly in giving back and doing the right thing.
The team of educators we work with really depended on Ella. She had unyielding patience with them and with me and was very good at dumbing down her statistical analysis so even I could understand the numbers.
She was always calm and had a positive attitude. Here is what some of the people we worked with had to say about Ella:
Our programs business director said this about Ella:
"Ella will always remain in my heart; she was the sweetest of people."
Ella had a significant role in building the diabetes offering and helped take the program from infancy to toddlerhood. I could not have done my job without her.
Ella had the kindest heart and the gentlest of souls. Ella worked M, W, and F. She would start each day by either calling me or walking by my desk saying; "Hi Jan, I'm here!" These words would always brighten my day and knowing her has brightened my life.