Ellen Rebecca Dove, 83, died peacefully on Aug. 9, 2024 in Madison, Wisconsin. Born on July 7, 1941 in Bangor, Maine, to Franklin and Ruth Dove, in 1945 the family moved to 339 N. Grove Ave. in Oak Park, where she would live for most of her adult life. As a child, she and her sister and brothers all had paper routes delivering the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune throughout the village. She graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School in the class of 1960 and attended Shimer College in Mt. Carroll, Illinois, then completed her B.A. at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington before getting her M.S.W. degree in social psychology at the University of Michigan.
She worked as a psychiatric social worker for more than four decades in public and private health organizations throughout the western suburbs of Chicago.
Her final 15 months were spent at Capitol Lakes in Madison, Wisconsin, where she lived near her brother Bill. With support from hospice care, she attended concerts several times each week. Under continuous care, she soaked up fresh air and sunshine while sitting on the outdoor patio, enjoyed special meals, and celebrated family occasions with Bill and her many family visitors. Throughout her life, she had a special bond with dogs, from her earliest pets through visits with family members’ dogs and therapy dogs. They, like children, recognized her gentle kindness and appetite for fun.