Ellen Louise (Eaton) Urbano, 95
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Ellen Louise (Eaton) Urbano, 95, passed away March 7 at the Linda Manor Skilled Care Facility in Northampton, where she had been a resident for a short time.
Ellen was born in North Adams, Massachusetts on Dec 6, 1925, a daughter of Frank Howard Eaton and Anna Elizabeth (Purtell) Eaton. An outstanding student, she graduated from the former Williamstown High School with the Class of 1944.
Less than two months later, her mother died from cancer, and she sacrificed college in order to assist her father in raising her younger sister and brother, ages nine and eleven. Three years later, her father suffered a debilitating stroke and so, at the age of 21, she assumed the roles of mother and father, as well as breadwinner.
Ellen worked for many years as a legal secretary in the law offices of O. Dixon Marshall, a leading attorney in Williamstown at the time, and his successor, Lawrence (Larry) B. Urbano, also a native of Williamstown. Ellen and Larry were married in 1972.
They continued to reside in Williamstown until 1984 when following Larry's appointment as an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court, they moved to Worthington in order to shorten his daily commute. While in Williamstown they were
parishioners of Sts. Patrick and Raphael Church.
Ellen was predeceased by her husband, Lawrence B. Urbano in 2001. She was also predeceased by her sister, Ann Eaton, earlier this year, and by her nephew Michael Eaton. Upon Larry's death, she moved to the Lathrop Community in Northampton. She is a parishioner of Our Lady of the Hills Parish, Haydenville.
Ellen was a kind and unassuming person with a quiet smile and disdain only for those affiliated with the New York Yankees. Her favorite places in the world were Rock Harbor on Cape Cod and Fenway Park.
She drove herself to the Cape for one week each month of the year, from Northampton to Brewster, well into her eighties.
She is survived by her brother, Frederick Eaton, and his wife, Jean of Fort Meyers, Florida, and her nephew, David of Franklin, Tennessee, and his wife, Elizabeth, and by her niece, Madeline Eaton, also of Franklin, and by her nephew, Christopher Eaton of Cleveland, Ohio.
A Liturgy of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday, March 14 at 10 AM in Our Lady of the Hills Parish, 173 Main St., Haydenville, MA (Please meet directly at church) with Rites of Committal and burial to follow at 1 PM in East Lawn Cemetery, 605 Main St., Williamstown, MA.
There are no visiting hours.