There will never be another like Ellen “Chi” Meyers – gifted communicator, thoughtful listener, soft rocker, prolific reader, smooth movin’ line dancer, ping pong shark, bridge aficionado, dear friend, devoted sister and loving mother. She passed away on Wednesday, October 4, 2023, the morning before her birthday. She was 78.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1944, Ellen grew up in Pittsburgh with her parents Robert (d. 1982) and Mildred (d. 2008) McArthur, her brother Kent and sister Gail. After graduating from Mt. Lebanon High School in 1962, she attended Ohio Wesleyan University for two years before transferring to University of Denver where she earned a Bachelor of Arts with a major in history.

After college, Ellen married Grant Meyers (d. 2021). Before their divorce in 1982, the pair moved around – to Binghamton, NY, Cary, NC and Winter Park, FL – before eventually settling in Hollywood, FL, where Ellen lived for the next five decades. It was where she would raise her two daughters, Gretchen and Kristen, where she would become a grandmother to her three granddaughters, Daphne, Alice and Frances, where she would find her life’s purpose as a guidance counselor after earning a Masters in Education, and where she would come to impact thousands of lives of the people she met along the way.

Listening is part of a guidance counselor’s job description, but for Ellen it was an essential part of who she was as a person. She listened in a way that made others feel comfortable and seen. She accepted people for who they were and asked questions that challenged them to deepen their understanding of themselves. Ellen refined these skills in her work at Hollywood Hills and Colbert Elementary Schools, Apollo and Olsen Middle Schools and Plantation High School, from where she retired after a thirty-year career.

Ellen committed herself to nurturing the growth and development of adolescents, which wasn’t limited to her students. Both of her children and their friends saw Ellen, or “Chi” as they knew her, as a role model and source of inspiration, partly because of her open acceptance and partly because she embodied the independent spirit that developed during her graduate education. She once said of her time in counseling school that she learned about all of the feelings in life and was determined to experience each of them.

In her retirement years, she continued to foster her love of connection with others by giving through volunteer work, including her leadership of a book group for the blind and visually impaired community at the Lighthouse of Broward County. She also created and facilitated a pet loss support group for the Humane Society of Broward County, inspired after she lost her beloved dog, Sunny. As she helped others grieve and heal, she too went on to adopt Lexie, a border collie mix, who became her faithful companion.

Ellen’s life was filled with many friendships. Her outgoing personality and easy communication drew people to her, sometimes even strangers. She loved to have a good time, and few people had more good times and adventures with Ellen than her best friend Judy. In a friendship that spanned forty years, the two enjoyed nearly all of life’s celebrations together and supported one another through setbacks.

As much as she valued her individual friendships, she also thrived among groups of people. She kept her schedule active by engaging in some of her favorite pastimes through ping pong and bridge clubs, where she met with others to compete and connect. She created and participated in two different book groups with friends and former colleagues, one of which has continued to meet for more than twenty years.

However it was her line dancing classes that really sparked a new joy in life in her later years. Proof that you can learn something new at any age, she picked up this hobby which went on to become one of her greatest passions. In fact, she adopted the song “Never Gonna Not Dance Again” by P!nk as her own personal motto.

Though dancing was her most recent passion, her most enduring passion was people. And there are just so many people out there who felt her impact on their lives. It’s why the life of a person like Chi (or Ellen if it makes you more comfortable) can’t be summarized in only interests and actions, but rather is most keenly felt though the words and stories of those who knew and loved her.

Please take a moment and share a photo or memory (or both) on her remembrance wall here at www.ellenmmeyers.com.

This website has tabs that include information about her Celebration of Life event, which will be held in Hollywood on October 22, 2023. You can also find information about charitable organizations that she wished to have donations made to in her memory.

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