Ellwood, Deborah Russell, Highlands

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Deborah Russell Ellwood passed over into eternal life on April 4, peacefully in her own home in Highlands. Deb was a graduate of The Rumson Country Day School, Middletown South High School and Barnard College.

In her early career, Deb was a real estate appraiser in San Francisco and in New Jersey and later ran her own appraisal company called Ellwood Residential Appraisals. For many years, she volunteered throughout Monmouth County, starting as a teen in the Candy Striper Program at Riverview Hospital, Red Bank and in recent years in the oncology ward at Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch. She was very active at Christ Church Middletown, the Twin Lights gift shop in Highlands, the Garden State Young People’s Conference (GSYP), and Shore House where she contributed her artwork for their fundraisers. She was a longtime participant in the Community Connections Program in Long Branch and also studied at EFM (Education for Ministry).

Deb’s passions were music, art, her cats and her friends. She loved to play her many guitars while singing and writing her own songs. In the past few years, one could usually find her with a paintbrush in her hand. She had a talent for capturing the beauty in all God’s creatures.

Deb was truly sensitive to the needs of others and loving to all she met. She had a wonderful sense of humor, a beautiful voice and an infectious laugh. She will be remembered with tremendous love by her mother, Elizabeth Ellwood, her son, Arthur Ellwood, her sister, Sarah Opler, her brother-in-law, Eddie Opler, and her six nieces and nephews, Benjamin and Natalie Ellwood and Sophie, Chloe, Phoebe and Teddy Opler.

Deb’s Memorial Services will be held at Christ Episcopal Church of Middletown, 90 Kings Highway, Middletown, on Monday, May 21 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, please make donations in her loving memory to Shore House, 279 Broadway, Ste. 400, Long Branch, NJ 07740 or the Monmouth County SPCA, 260 Wall St., Eatontown, NJ 07724.