Obituary of Ellen Westfall Mering

 

Ellen Westfall Mering 1931 - February 15, 2021

Ellie Mering, age 89, crossed the shining river on Monday, February 15th, 2021. She loved laughter, people, and writing.

Ellie was born in Columbia, Missouri. She graduated from Dana Hall in 1949. She was a Pi Phi at the University of Missouri in Columbia and graduated with a degree in English in 1953. She married John Mering in 1954 and the family settled in Tucson in 1969.

Ellie described herself as a “peoplearian” and will be remembered as gregarious, curious, and witty. She was an avid reader and lover of books, a tennis athlete, and a vicious ping pong player. She delighted in hosting gatherings at her home on Elm Street. She frequented the Arizona Inn, where she loved to mingle and enjoy the piano music. Ellie was a proponent of vaccination, birth control, and swimming lessons. She regularly implored her children and her grandchildren(and anyone within earshot) to write a sentence a day. “Write, write, write! It’s the right thing to do.” She had short stories published in American Fiction: The Best Unpublished Short Stories by Emerging Writers; Calyx, A Journal of Art and Literature by Women Poets and Writers; Kaleidoscope: Martindale Literary Award Winners, and Kalliope: A Journal of Women’s Literature and Art.

Ellie is preceded in death by her parents, Ruth Rollins Westfall and Wilhelmus David Allen Westfall, her brother, David Westfall, and her husband of 52 years, John Vollmer Mering. She is survived by her four children, Clay (Laurie), Ellen (Lynn), Meg (Duncan) and Sallie (Steve). Each of us was her favorite child. She also leaves behind three treasured grandchildren, Vatika, Eli, and Alden, and one great grandchild, Gwen. She is survived by numerous nieces and nephews. She was “Aunt Ancient” to the Westfall clan, a moniker which she fully embodied at the end of her life.

The family is grateful for the care Ellie received at Amber Lights Senior Living.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the James S. Rollins Slavery Atonement Endowment at the University of Missouri blackstudies.missouri.edu/research or Planned Parenthood www.plannedparenthood.org/getinvolved. A virtual memorial service is planned.

.

Love from all of us, Ellie. Wherever you are, “Have fun, but don’t get caught.”

“Thank you for being. Thank you for being you.”