Maggie Ellison
December 7, 2011
Margaret "Maggie" Quinn Ellison, 67, of Mount Vernon, died peacefully in her sleep on Wednesday, December 07, 2011 in her home. Her visitation will be 4:00 until 7:00 p.m. on Friday, December 9, 2011, at Morgan Funeral Choices. The funeral service will be 2:00 p.m. Saturday, December 10, 2011, at the Mount Vernon United Methodist Church. Maggie was born in Cedar Rapids on May 21, 1944 to Blair and Ethel Colton Quinn. In 1966, she married high school classmate Bill Ellison. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Drake University in Des Moines, Maggie taught for a year in Bakersfield, California. Military service required them to be stationed in Brunswick, Maine until 1970 when the couple returned to Iowa to civilian life. A house fire caused them to take to the road in a semi-truck traveling throughout the United States, moving families for North American Van Lines. In 1974, they began farming near Sutliff where Vince was born. Vance and Vicki came along shortly thereafter. Bill and Maggie divorced in 1983, and at that time she went on to teach at Cornell for a short period then settled in a long and fulfilling position with the Mount Vernon High School, retiring in 2008. Maggie was an exceptional and inspiring English teacher for 25 years. At Mount Vernon High School she created a renowned speech program where she earned great respect throughout Southeast Iowa for her work in I.H.S.S.A. Highly talented, Maggie's skilled direction placed her theatre productions on a professional level well ahead of her time. An award is presented annually to the top drama student at Mount Vernon High School named in honor of Maggie Ellison. Many turned to her for her sage advice, comfort, or as someone who would willingly share a laugh, a secret, a special moment. After retirement, Maggie's social life flourished with family, friends, and community activities, including her board membership with the Mount Vernon Lisbon Community Theatre. Maggie is survived by Bill Ellison of Mount Vernon and their children: Curt Wilwerding (Jeanne) and their children Kolten and Katelyn of Glenwood; Vince (Tara) and their children Kate, Leah and Isaac Quinn of North Liberty; Vance (Dani) and their son Trevor of Solon; and Vicki Ellison (Ben Havill) of Cedar Rapids. She was preceded in death by her parents and a sister, Jeanette. She will be deeply missed by all who knew her. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be directed to: Mount Vernon School District Foundation in honor of Maggie Ellison. On-line condolences: www.morganfuneralchoices.com
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Vince, Vance, and Vicki- I am so sorry about your mom. I cannot even put into words the kindness and comfort she has brought to my family. She was a wonderful friend, neighbor, teacher, and all around person. Her passion for those that she loved shone through her. She had so much love and was loved by so many people. I am so sorry.
I am speechless…and Maggie definitely wouldn’t like to hear that! She was a treasure to all and her passing leaves a huge hole in our hearts. It was wonderful to work with her again IN THEATRE. I am blessed that I had that chance again, just as we are all blessed to have had her in our lives. My sincerest love and sympathy go out to Vince, Vance and Vicki. Bless you.
Vicki, Vance, and Vince, sorry to hear about your mother’s passing. Margaret was my cousin as you know from the Quinn Family. My mother, Fran, and her dad, Blair, were brother and sister. Many fond memories of our travels to visit our Iowa relatives as we lived in Indiana. I always enjoyed her spirit and laugh as we shared times together in our visits with her. Peace to you all, cousin, Tom Garling Kalamazoo, MI.
To the Ellison family, I offer my deepest condolences for the loss of Maggie Ellison. As a former student of hers, I have fond memories of her as a teacher, who had an extremely caring, fun way about her. She was a wonderful director of school productions and always made the experience a lot of fun with a very positive energy. In the classroom she was no different. A very dynamic, highly energized, thoughtful teacher with a lot of experience, and always a positive outlook. She will be greatly missed. I’ll carry her memory with me and it was a blessing to have her as a teacher and friend.
Vicki, Vance,and Vince I am so sorry to hear about your mom passing! She was a wonderful lady and will be missed greatly! I’m sure my mom and Donna are waiting for! The three of them back together again! Stay strong and remember she’ll be watching over you!
Dear Vince, Vance & Vicki, Our hears go out to you in the sudden and unexpected loss of your mother. None of our children were involved with her school plays, although I think Ben might have handed out programs, just so he could attend the after play party. However, at least one of our children had her as a teacher, because I remember how thorough, yet gracious and kind she was at a parent-teacher conference. Whenever, we would run into her, we would have a pleasant conversation, as we inquired about each other’s family. She was a wonderful, kind and talented woman who gave and gave so much of herself to this community, for which we all are grateful. Now as you face the future without her presence, we will keep you all in our prayers as you cope with this great loss. However, they all thought highly of her,as did we. The conversations we had with her
vicki, vance and vince, what a wonderful person your mother was.. everyone who knew her loved her.. she was an angel on earth.. i cherish all the chats we had and my children adored her and were so fortunate to have her as their teacher and friend.. her early passing will leave a void for anyone ever touched by her in any way.. what a tremendous individual she was.. thank you dear maggie , for all the wonderful years you gave to so many children and for being such a great friend to all. we will miss you so much.. candace allen and family
I am sitting on the couch reading the Mt. Vernon newspaper and I am stunned. Maggie died. She was my best childhood friend – we were born in the same year, lived on the same block throughout most of our school years, graduated in the same year, ’62. We played together constantly. I shared her grandmother with her because I never knew mine. I went home with her every day because she had a television and I didn’t. I even promised to marry her. Her dad had grown chinchillas in a garage, so, when he quit, we converted it into a “clubhouse” we called the “cage”. We and our friends spent much time there. We grew up together and parted ways after graduation. But I never forgot what we had meant to each other and I visited her whenever I could get to Mt. Vernon. I cannot envision a world where I cannot go to Mt. Vernon, visit the old house, and reconnect with my childhood “significant other.” My heart goes out to her family for their loss. My own heart is breaking, so it must be very hard for them. I will love and miss her always.
I’m sorry to hear of maggie’s passing. She was a great teacher and someone any student could talk to. She will be greatly missed.
Dear Vince, Vance and Vicki, Your mother was a tremendous teacher and a gifted director who gave much to her community and the kids she taught and coached. I will never forget her warm eyes as she shared a laugh with her classes, and her smoky laugh, coming out of the back of a darkened theater, late late at night as we rehearsed scenes just one more time. We were lucky to have her. With sympathy, Sarah Busse