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Michael H. ‘Mike’ Ellsworth
Michael Hamilton Ellsworth (Mike) died Oct. 7, 2023, at William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich.
He was born Feb. 25, 1940, in Brooklyn, New York, the second of four children of Stanley Fessenden and Anna Adelaide Frost Ellsworth.
His sister Mary (Hans Dietrich) lives in Denver, Colo. He was predeceased by his brother, Peter (Marjorie) and his sister Anne (Myron Marshaus).
Mike attended Brooklyn Friends School and the Brooklyn Polytechnic High School during the academic year, but he spent summers in West Woodstock, where he grew to love the rural environment.
Later Mike headed off to Amherst College, choosing to become an English major. Early in his freshman year, he met Mary Ellen Tressel on a blind date. When some upper-class women asked, “I wonder who has the tall, dark, handsome one?” usually shy Mary Ellen quickly said, “I do!” Mike and Mary Ellen married on Sept. 15, 1962; they recently celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary.
After college Mike decided to pursue a career in medicine. He took premedical courses at New York University and completed medical school at the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Mike and Mary Ellen then moved to Hartford, where Mike did an internship and a year of anesthesiology residency at the Hartford Hospital. Mike and Mary Ellen and their young son, Robert, moved to Havre de Grace, Md., next.
Here the couple’s son Michael Patrick was born, and Mike completed his commitment to the U.S. Navy at Bainbridge Naval Training Center. He attained the rank of lieutenant commander.
Mike returned to Connecticut, settling in Wethersfield to complete his residency in orthopedics at the UConn Medical Center, Farmington.
A move to Eastford followed, and Mike established Orthopedic Associates of Northeast Connecticut, with an office at 255 Pomfret Street from 1976 through 2017.
Mike, who brought total joint replacements to the area, loved his work and enjoyed serving his patients in his growing practice. Mike’s family also grew at this time, with the arrival of daughters Mary Elizabeth and Kathleen.
Mike had a great love of family, and relished time with his children: Robert (Ashlyn); Patrick (Laura); Liz (Andy Brownlee), and Kathleen (Vince Giandonato). Serving as Judge of Probate in Eastford for many years, he was privileged to marry all of his children. At each celebration after the ceremony, he was sure to do the “chicken dance” and the polka! Mike also thoroughly enjoyed his 11 grandchildren: Caileigh, Robert, Will, Charlie, Corinne, Mike, Jo, Jane, Hannah, Caela, and Ilaria.
For the last few years of Mike’s life, he battled Parkinson’s disease. He fought valiantly through the many challenges this presented. We are thankful for early diagnosis and treatment and the support community it opened for us.
Mike took pleasure in listening to Phantom of the Opera, Enya, and Neil Diamond. He liked comedies and Whodunnit books and shows. After the family’s first pound puppy, he grew to love dogs, including, maybe especially, the low-slung Beagle Basset, Walter.
Mike had many other interests, and he and Mary Ellen were lucky to travel to many parts of the world.
Still, nothing could beat the old houses and the stone walls and the trees that Mike enjoyed in our rural part of Connecticut. He loved to put on his overalls and to get on his tractor, “Big Momma,” to mow the fields.
He also enjoyed old cars and trucks. When Mike was 14, he landed a job washing the windows of Eastford’s Bowen’s Garage, earning $50—enough to buy the ’37 Ford truck he had his eye on.
Later he was able to afford a cream-colored ’54 Ford Sedan. He always kept both the ’37 and the ’54 in running condition.
Mike, though tall and slim, had a hearty appetite.
He loved plain, everyday foods like oatmeal, bread, fresh fruits. He loved a good game of Monopoly, Jeopardy, and Wheel of Fortune. Mike always said “Keep Smilin’!” We’re all trying.
Donations: Michael J. Fox Foundation (give.michaeljfox.org); Joshua’s Trust (joshuastrust.org/ways-to-give/); the Eastford Public Library (179 Eastford Rd, Eastford, CT 06242), or a charity of your choice. Details of a celebration of life to follow. Gilman and Valade Funeral Homes and Crematory, 104 Church St., Putnam.
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