It is with deep sorrow that the family of Ellen Gerson Whitaker Delano announces the passing of a very special mother, wife, aunt and cousin on September 1, 2023 at home in Orwell, Vermont. Ellen was born December 15, 1928 in Syracuse, New York, and spent her early years in the greater Boston, Massachusetts area and attended public schools where she developed a love of literature and strong writing skills. After her father, George Gerson, passed away in 1942, she and her brother, Fred Gerson, moved with their mother, Nellie Bosshard Gerson, to Barre-Montpelier where Ellen finished high school and then graduated from Vermont College. In 1948, she traveled to Switzerland to meet her mothers family. On the way home by ship, she met Michael Whitaker, a former Student Union exchange student from Great Britain who had attended St. Johnsbury Academy. They married in 1950, moved to England and had one daughter, Catherine Anne. But the marriage dissolved, and Ellen returned from England to South Burlington, Vermont in 1953 with her young daughter to Iive with her mother. Ellen worked for the U.S. Immigration Services for several years, before getting a secretarial position at IBM in Essex Junction. She worked there for 37 years, being promoted into positions as an industrial engineering analyst and technical writer. Upon retirement, she served as an enthusiastic and well-recognized volunteer at Channel 17 government access channel, Echo at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Pine Ridge School (where her late second husband Howard Delano whom she married in 1974, and who died in 1979, was a Co-founder and Head of School), and for the political campaigns of Bernie Sanders, Howard Dean and Barack Obama through Democracy for America (DFA). In addition to her work through the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program at the United Way Volunteer Center, she was a long-standing member of the Burlington Choral Society and the Canadian Choir FICA, which performed in Montreal. In 2006, she re-encountered a dear widowed family friend, Fred Rollenhagen. Their love blossomed and, after a long courtship, they married in 2018 and lived together happily in a beautifully renovated farm house and barn in Orwell, Vermont. She is survived by her special loving husband, Frederick Rollenhagen of Orwell, Vermont; her daughter, Catherine Whitaker Fisk Natale and spouse, Justin of New Hartford, Connecticut; her sister-in-law, Mary Sue Gerson of Bridgewater, Connecticut; her niece, Kim Gerson Sillcox and spouse, Scott, grand niece and nephew, Carly and Kai, of Aurora, Ontario, Canada; her nephew, Peter Gerson and spouse, Alexandra of Wolcott, Vermont; cousin, Daisy Cabrini of Cremona, Italy; and cousin, Micheline Brunner-Zerbuchen of Zrich, Switzerland. In addition, she was much beloved by Freds children: Von Rollenhagen and spouse Alexandra of Morristown, New Jersey; Kristoph Rollenhagen of Randolph, New Jersey; Emmy Hamilton of South Chatham, Massachusetts; Lindsy and spouse, Jimmy Zook of Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and Robert Menefee of Tuscon, Arizona; as well as his numerous grandchildren (the late Abigail Rollenhagen, Sam and Zoe Rollenhagen, Charlie Hamilton, Pablo and Xavier Zook). The family would like to give special thanks to the Addison County Hospice Care as well as a special family friend, Liz Orr, and other local caregivers who were there to support Ellen and Fred in the last weeks of her life. The family would welcome contributions to the Addison County Home Health and Hospice (P.O. Box 754, Middlebury, VT 05753) and Orwell First response (604 Main Street, Orwell, VT 05760). The Sanderson funeral home in Middlebury, Vermont (www.sandersonfuneralservice.com) has charge of arrangements. A celebration of Ellens life for family and close friends will take place at a later date.