Victor – Ellyn Palmer Jones was born in New Jersey on May 29, 1933, the third daughter of Mildred Palmer and David Hugh Jones, a beloved music director of the Princeton Theological Seminary choir and a professor of music. Ellyn was very proud of her Welsh heritage, and the spelling of her name (her father’s idea) reflects the Welsh influence. Music was a lifelong passion of Ellyn’s as well as photography, plants, gardening, hiking and candy-making. She was a lifelong pediatrician, caring for several generations of children in the communities of the Bitterroot Valley for almost 40 years. For 20 years, she was the doctor for the Trapper Creek Job Corps in Darby, also coaching students in mathematics. She was a member of the Stevensville United Methodist Church where she played in the bell choir, attended study groups and book clubs and served on the governing board of the church. She was active in community affairs, including serving on the boards of Genesis House (a group home), the Stevensville Clothes Closet and the Bitterroot Public Library.
Ellyn graduated from the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio in 1955. From there, she went on to obtain a medical degree from Columbia University School of Medicine, specializing in pediatrics. She did an internship at The Ohio State University and subsequently opened a practice in North Conway, New Hampshire, and lived there for 20 years.
Ellyn loved Montana, and for many years spent vacations in a little cabin on the Hackett ranch on Sweathouse Creek outside of Victor, MT. The Gebhart and the Hackett families became like second families to her.
In 1980, she moved her medical practice to Stevensville and purchased an acreage on Meridian Road near Sheafman Creek in Victor. Here, she, along with her college friend Molly Hackett, spent many decades gardening, watching birds, photographing plants and entertaining their many friends and visitors from across the U.S. and abroad. They also traveled to Britain and Wales for several summers where they hiked in many places and visited gardens.
On January 9, 2022, Ellyn suffered a debilitating stroke. She was at first cared for by the staff at Marcus Daly Hospital and then moved to The Living Centre in Stevensville where she lived out her days, with compassionate care by the staff. She died peacefully in her sleep in the early morning hours of December 14.
Many who were touched by her life, including the children she cared for, will mourn her passing. Ellyn is survived by three nieces (Lee Johnson of California, Martha Smith of New York, and Jennifer Johnson of South Carolina), and three nephews (Scott Smith of New York, Doug Smith of Washington D.C., and Sander (Sandy) Johnson of South Carolina.)
She was preceded in death by her parents as well as by two sisters, Jane Ann Smith and Kathie Johnson.
Donations in memory of Dr. Ellyn Jones may be sent to Genesis House in Stevensville, the Stevensville United Methodist Church or to the Carroll Bergin Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 7, 2023 at 11:00 A.M. at the Stevensville United Methodist Church. Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at www.whitesittfuneralhome.com.