Ellen Ordway

The celebration of life gathering for Ellen Ordway, of Morris, Minnesota will be held on Saturday, March 17, 2018 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Pedersen Funeral Home in Morris. Burial will be held at a later date at Woodlawn Cemetery, The Bronx, New York.

Ellen Ordway, PhD, was born on November 8, 1927, to Samuel H. Ordway Jr. and Anna W. (Wheatland) Ordway in New York City. She attended Wheaton College and obtained a Master’s degree from Cornell University and a PhD from the University of Kansas in 1965. During her college years she was a field assistant to Dr. William Beebe of the New York Zoological Society at his experimental station in Brazil. In 1965 Ellen joined the faculty of the biology department at the University of Minnesota Morris and became professor emeritus in 1997, retiring in 2005. She specialized in the study of bees and traveled extensively abroad until a stroke in 2006 left her homebound in Morris. Watching birds and wildlife from her windows became Ellen’s favorite pastime.

Ellen died peacefully on Tuesday, February 20, 2018 at West Wind Village in Morris, Minnesota. She was 90 years old.

She leaves behind her brother, Samuel H. Ordway III and his wife Chris, Weed, CA; and two nephews, Richard Ordway, Boulder, CO, and David Ordway, Falmouth, ME and their families.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to West Wind Village, Outdoor gazebo project, 1001 Scotts Ave. Morris, MN. 56267, 320-589-1133 or Knute Nelson Hospice, 2715 Highway 29 South, Suite 103, Alexandria, MN. 56308, 320 759-1270. Pedersen Funeral Home in Morris is in charge of the funeral arrangements. An online guest book can be signed at www.pedersenfh.com.