Ellen Brie Houseknecht

Ellen Brie Houseknecht died of natural causes on 14 December 2021 in Silver Spring, Maryland. Ellen was born in State College, Pennsylvania, on 28 February 1977. She moved with her family to Columbia, Missouri, in 1978 and to Leesburg, Virginia, in 1992. Ellen graduated from Loudoun County High School in 1995 and from Longwood University in 2000 with a degree in Design and Technical Theater. Following college, Ellen worked in the theater community, mainly in the Washington DC and Baltimore region. Ellen was her “own person” from the beginning of her life. At birth, she was this beautiful, tiny little baby who brought so much love and happiness into our house. She loved rainbows and searched each one for the “pot of gold” at the end. She adored her little brother, Walt – watching over him and protecting him as a baby, loving and respecting him always. Being part of Walt and Liane’s wedding was a great joy, only matched by her delight in gaining the perfect sister-in-law. As a child, Ellen was a voracious reader and books that particularly captured her imagination were given special attention. She often adapted those stories into backyard plays featuring herself, her brother, and neighborhood children. She appeared in her first “real” play at age 11 and was hooked! She immersed herself in every available theater opportunity thereafter – community theater for children, junior-high and high school plays, forensics, college plays, and summer stock via internships. Ellen never lost her love for the theater and the magical worlds she helped create for others to experience. She brought her dedication, artistry, talent, and exuberance to stage managing, carpentry, and a spectrum of design and technical tasks – each facet of putting together a play or creating the setting for an event was a glorious challenge. Friendships made on the job remained a source of joy throughout her life. No one was more delighted and excited when her little nieces, Lydia and Campbell were born. She interacted with them from the time they were babies, making them laugh, reading to them, playing games, modeling for them that it’s okay and important to “be yourself”, to be silly and goofy whenever they could, and to show others that they care. She took Lydia to see several children’s plays – wanting to share her love of theater firsthand. If Covid had not happened, she would have taken both of the girls to see more special plays. Ellen brought games to all the extended family gatherings over the years, teaching her cousins to play some of her favorites like Star Wars Epic Duels. She made them laugh and they made her laugh, and it was the greatest thing to watch. She stayed in touch with her cousins, cheering them in their accomplishments, supporting them in hard times, truly delighting in events like their weddings. She was always one of the first on the dance floor and one of the last to leave. She loved holidays, chose the most thoughtful of gifts and made everyone feel special on their birthdays. Ellen celebrated life every day, finding the beauty in people, in nature and in her work. Ellen rented in the home of close friends for many years, moving with them several times. They became a “second family” to her – a precious part of her life. When their boys were born, Ellen quickly embraced sharing in their care and nurturing and a lasting bond formed. Ellen reveled in taking the boys on adventures – walking, geocaching, visiting beautiful parks and playgrounds, doing art projects, and playing games. She shared her love of books, often reading a bedtime story with the three of them snuggled up together. Ellen loved caring for the boys daily after Covid closed theaters and the bonds only grew stronger. In recent years, Ellen became a hiking enthusiast and favorite locations included the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland. While serving as stage manager for an eight-city national tour of the play Remarkably Normal, Ellen took every opportunity to enjoy and photograph the natural beauty while hiking in national and regional parks. There is a saying, “it’s not the number of years in your life that count, but the life (and friends) in your years”. Ellen lived her days and loved her family and friends with abandon, prizing people above all material things. Ellen is survived by her parents, Stephanie and David, her brother, Walter (Liane), two nieces (Lydia and Campbell), her maternal grandmother (Bernice Quay), three aunts, one uncle, and eleven cousins. Beyond her immediate family, Ellen is survived by scores of treasured friends, young (especially two special little boys) and old. Ellen’s family requests no flowers, please. Donations in Ellen’s memory to one of these charities, which she strongly supported, would be warmly welcomed. Planned Parenthood – please consider Specific Giving to a local organization of Planned Parenthood, for example DC, MD or VA at: weareplannedparenthood.org/onlineactions/cOJVhOyrzkq4uBcxVekXFA2?tabs=true&sourceid=1000061 Know Your Rights Camp at: knowyourrightscamp.com Or one of DC’s smaller local professional theaters, such as taffetypunk.com happenstancetheater.com rorschachtheatre.com

Ellen Brie Houseknecht

February 28, 1977 - December 14, 2021