Ellen Kielty died on June 21, 2000 at the age of 58 from metastasis of a breast cancer that first occurred more than 10 years earlier. After a radical mastectomy, chemotherapy and reconstructive surgery in 1990, Ellen began an intensive search for alternative treatments, holistic health practices, and spiritual understanding. Her experiences with physicians and traditional medical procedures were very unsatisfactory so she determined that she must stay in control of her health and her treatments if she was to survive.For a decade, Ellen sought out cancer experts, alternative treatment practitioners, and other cancer patients who could give her information and assist in her quest for positive, non-toxic ways to stay healthy. Simultaneously, she began an equally intensive quest for deeper spiritual understanding of life and death. Her agnosticism and affiliation with the Unitarian Church had served her well before she developed cancer but they did not provide the answers or the comfort that she needed when faced with serious illness and death.
Over the 10 years from the first diagnosis of breast cancer until her death, Ellen established a network of connections and relationships with people from all walks of life and from numerous religious or spiritual orientations. When these friends learned that her cancer metastasized and that she was terminally ill, they responded by organizing a care group to help her live as fully as possible. Ellen called these caring friends her angels. Thus, a group of approximately 30 people came to be known as "Ellen's Angels." They hope to continue the loving support that they gave Ellen by helping other groups of friends organize to provide quality of life care for their loved ones.
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