Ellen L. Ryder

Greenfield, Massachusetts
Ellen Louise (Renfrew) Ryder, 81, a resident of 227 Barton Road, formerly of 249 Wells Street, died Friday, September 21, 2018 at the East Longmeadow Skilled Nursing Center, 305 Maple Street, East Longmeadow, MA, following a lengthy struggle with Alzheimer’s.

A native of Greenfield, MA, Ellen was born on November 2, 1936 to, Alice M. (Fowler) Renfrew and Carlos T. Renfrew and was one of six children in the Renfrew household. She was educated in Greenfield Public Schools and graduated from Greenfield High School in the Class of 1955.

Ellen worked for 35 years, for the J.H. Smith Company in Greenfield, where she rose from a machinist in the manufacturing plant to become the Vice President at the time of her retirement. Ellen enjoyed many activities that included vegetable gardening (in particular tomatoes) and tending to her rose garden. Additionally, she enjoyed camping, fishing, square dancing, candlepin bowling, card playing (Hearts), playing board games, jig saw puzzles, watching game shows, following the Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots, traveling (especially to Hawaii), trips to the casinos, visiting Sleepy Hollow Camp Ground (Leverett, MA) and trips to Lake Bomoseen. She was devoted to her family and will be remembered for making the holidays memorable, as well as for her famous chocolate birthday cakes, topped with decadent white homemade frosting.

Ellen married James Donald “Big Jim” Ryder, Sr., on December 26, 1955 in the First Methodist Church of Greenfield, MA. They were blessed with two children, their daughter Constance and their son James D. Ryder, Jr. Sadly, Ellen was predeceased by her son James in April of 1993, as well as by her beloved husband of 57 years in March of 2012. Additionally, she was predeceased by her parents, as well as four of her siblings, Norma, Harry, Carl and Hollis. She leaves to remember her with love and affection her daughter Connie M. (Ryder) Smith and her husband Ed, of Greenfield, MA, as well as her granddaughter: Katie Caron and her husband Lindsay, of Greenfield, MA and their children: Jackson, Logan, Max and Lilly and her grandson Peter Smith and his wife Sarah, of Athol, MA and their children: Madeline, Hunter and Cooper. Additionally, she leaves her remaining sibling, her brother Donald D. Renfrew of Greenfield, her sister-in-law Carolyn Renfrew, of CA (wife of the late Harry Renfrew) and several nieces, nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews.

Funeral services celebrating her life and many gifts, will be observed on Wednesday, September 26, 2018 from the McCarthy Funeral Homes, 36 Bank Row, Greenfield, MA at 2:00PM, with Jack Cooper, Celebrant, to officiate. Burial with committal rites will follow in the Green River Cemetery, Greenfield, MA. Visiting hours are omitted. Expressions of affection in Ellen’s memory are requested in lieu of flowers to, Baystate Hospice, 50 Maple Street, P.O. Box 9058, Springfield, MA 01102 or to the Alzheimer’s Foundation, Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter, 480 Pleasant Street, Watertown, MA 02472.

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