Ellen L Herd's Obituary
Ellen Lydia Herd passed away at the age of 97 while asleep in her bed during the early morning hours of November 2, 2022. The following is a brief summary of her full and wonderful life on this earth:
Ellen Lydia Liska was born in Duquesne, Pennsylvania on July 30, 1925, the first child of Jan and Ludmilla Liska. Her father worked as a Foreign Service Officer for the newly formed Republic of Czechoslovakia, having fought with the French Foreign Legion during World War I to establish his homeland as a nation. Ellen was shortly joined by her brother John and her sister Ollie.
As is typical of foreign service families, Ellen and her family spent the years leading up to World War II splitting their time between Prague and the United States (including stints in Cleveland, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Washington, DC) – two years here, two years there, and back and forth, again, and again. While living in Prague, Ellen came to know her Slovak grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins, spending time with them in small country villages.
While the family was stationed at the embassy in Washington, DC, World War II broke out in Europe. By the time the United States openly joined the conflict, Ellen was studying history at George Washington University. Following the end of the war, as the Czech government returned from exile, her father was recalled to Prague, and Ellen continued her studies at Charles University there.
In 1948 the Communist Party, with Soviet backing, took over control of the government of Czechoslovakia. Ellen, John and Ollie (aged 23, 21 and 18 at the time) had dual citizenships, and so they were able to flee the country and return to the United States. They left behind their parents, who suffered extreme hardships because of their departure, as the Iron Curtain quickly fell across eastern Europe. So the three lived with family friends in Washington, DC until they found work and were able to rent an apartment together. Both Ellen and Ollie worked for the DC Department of Corrections in the Probation and Parole office while John joined the US Army and served in Korea during the war, before returning to a long and illustrious career with Safeway.
In the spring of 1952, Ellen was introduced to Jim Herd at the wedding of one of her GW sorority sisters. At the time, Jim worked as an engineer at the Navy Department with the groom. On their third date, he proposed. After several postponements due to waiting for John to return from Korea, they married in December of 1952.
By October 1954, Ellen and Jim had settled into a small home in the outlying suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, where they began their family that eventually included four daughters. They lived an “Ozzie and Harriet” kind of life – Ellen no longer worked, and both were very involved in church, PTA, bowling leagues, and other community activities. Ellen stretched a tight budget by sewing for her girls, dressing them in matching outfits. But there was always room in the budget for two weeks each year, spent in a rental cottage in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
Ellen remained very close to John and Ollie, creating an extended family and bonds that continue to this day. In 1958, Ollie married a Navy Department engineer named Ken Cannon, who was introduced to her by Jim. The Cannons settled in a home close to Ellen and Jim, quickly adding to their family with a daughter and two sons. Meanwhile, while John never married, he continued to be a strong presence, living less than a mile away and acting as a second father to his seven nieces and nephews.
In 1966 during the Prague Spring, Ellen’s parents were allowed to leave communist Czechoslovakia and join their children in the United States. They moved in with John, and the families remained very close, all living within a few miles of each other in Bethesda and Potomac, Maryland.
As her children grew and became self-sufficient, Ellen began dedicating her free time to a variety of volunteer endeavors – Meals on Wheels, the Auxiliary of the National Lutheran Home for the Aged, her church – but family remained her overwhelming priority.
Ellen and Jim built a second home in Rehoboth Beach, and when Jim passed away in 1998, she moved to the home on a full- time basis. There she lived near old friends, including Al and Latch Gardenhour in the house next door, and Pastor Jan and Judy Lookingbill two blocks away. She made new friends, many through the activities at her local church. Her daughters, niece and nephews and their extended families took beach vacations in Rehoboth and visited regularly.
When you remember Ellen, remember that she loved Jim and Jim loved her from the moment they met. They took care of each other and were partners for life in everything they did.
Ellen loved to laugh. She had an infectious, silly giggle that would emerge when something tickled her – whether the taste of a new dessert or her clumsiness when attempting something new. She inherited this laugh from her mother…John and Ollie had it as well…and it has now passed down to the next generation.
Ellen loved an adventure. She loved to travel and never stopped learning. She never stopped doing for others and giving of her time and energy. She was kind. She was generous. She was an incredible baker and made desserts for the weekly International Student dinners during the busy season in Rehoboth. She loved a good Bible Study. She loved to read and was a member of her church book club until the day she died. She loved to knit, and on the day before she passed away, she completed a baby blanket for the little baby girl that will soon be her second great-grandchild.
Ellen loved people – all manner of people. She made sandwiches for the soup kitchen, was an “angel” for the elderly, and baked Christmas cookies for prison inmates. And people loved her. As COVID kept her isolated from most except family, the visitors she had brightened her day and put a smile on her face.
She loved our national parks – the mountains, the waterfalls and glaciers, the wildlife, the rocks. She visited many and would have loved to see them all. She loved all the family pets. She was gentle, and they loved her unconditionally.
Ellen loved our country. She was horrified by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the atrocities reminded her of those that occurred in Czechoslovakia in 1948. Her daughters were forced to turn off CNN and change the channel to classical music so she would not dwell on these horrors. She knew that freedom is not free.
Ellen is survived by her four daughters: Lydia Herd and husband Mike DeAngelis; Leslie Collins and dear friends Judy and Laura Brown; Paula and husband David Williams; and her beloved Susie Herd, who moved in and took care of her for the last four years of her life. She is also survived by her niece and two nephews: Anne and husband Fabio Grandi, John and wife Linda Cannon, and Ken and wife Johleen Cannon; by her grandchildren Billy Fosbre and wife Elianne Carroll, and Leigh and husband Scott Martin; by her grandnieces Caterina Grandi and Katie and Abbie Cannon, and by her great grandson Jayce Martin. She is also survived by many other people whose lives she made richer by her kindness, her faith and her joyful living.
Mom/Nana/Aunt Ellen will be sorely missed by all of us, though we are comforted by knowing she has joined Jim, Ollie and Ken, John, and Jan and Ludmilla and that together they are enjoying the sun, the sand, the waves and a cool ocean breeze on a beach somewhere.
Services for Ellen will be held at the Lutheran Church of our Savior in Rehoboth Beach on November 19, 2022, with a visitation with family members at 10am and services at 11am.
Contributions to her memory in lieu of flowers may be made to the International Red Cross for Ukraine.
Please sign the virtual guestbook located on the tribute page.
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