Kern County CA Obituary Project Obituaries.....Ellison, Jean Cameron ‘Cam’ April 17, 2005 ********************************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/obits/obitsca/obitsca.htm ********************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: K T bluewolf@onemain.com April 27, 2005, 10:09 pm The Tehachapi News Jean Cameron ‘Cam’ Ellison July 9, 1923 – April 17, 2005 Jean Cameron "Cam" Ellison passed away on April 17 in a Bakersfield hospital. Cam was born to John A. and Lillian F. Cameron in Mt. Vernon, N.Y., on July 9, 1923. Her father was a sound engineer and she grew up in various parts of the country as his job transferred him from place to place. After high school, Cam attended Boston University and then studied at the Arts School of the Boston Fine Arts Museum. Cam loved languages and was very much a "word person." She could quote scores of poems from memory and understood Spanish, French and Latin fairly well. She often worked anacrostic diagramless crosswords. As a young single mother, she worked freelance writing verse for several greeting card companies. Cam moved from Boston to the Los Angeles area in 1953 and began working as a secretary. She was hired by IBM as a secretary in 1957, but was soon transferred to a technical position. She advanced through many positions in IBM, from technical writer to computer room supervisor, to software development. By the time she retired from IBM after 33 years, she had attained one of its highest technical ranks as senior advisory programmer. Cam had many and varied interests and pursued each of them whole-heartedly. She loved music, ranging from classical, folk and show tunes, to jazz. She was an avid outdoorsperson and went beachcombing, hiking and camping at every opportunity, often with her daughter Betsy, and later with her grandson John. She was an active birder and took birding classes at UCLA. She went on many trips with her birding group and on flower walks with the Native Plant Society. One of Cam’s other greatest loves was sailing. In the 1970s, she and her long- time friend Winnie Graham went into partnership on a cruising sailboat and sailed all up and down the Southern California coastline and to its offshore islands. She became a proficient navigator through study and practice up to celestial navigation. In 1988, Cam and Winnie "retired" from sailing and bought acreage in Cummings Valley and began developing it into what Cam named "Broad Acres Farm." Over the first several years at Broad Acres, Cam spent most of her time out and about on the property watching wildlife and enjoying the wildflowers. Her declining health in the late 1990s limited, but did not stop, her nature- watching. Cam is survived by her brother, Jack Cameron of Amherst, Mass.; daughter, Betsy Pace of Old Orchard Beach, Maine; grandson, John Pace of Portsmouth, N.H.; niece, Kate Cameron of Danvers, Mass.; nephew, Tom Cameron of New York City, N.Y.; and "honorary" nieces and nephew, Russell, Nadine and Alysia Graham of Rochester, N.Y. She was preceded in death by her parents and a sister, Donna Cameron. A graveside service was held April 22 at San Fernando Mission Cemetery with Dr. Jack Cameron officiating. A memorial service at Broad Acres Farm will be held at a later date. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Tehachapi Community Orchestra. Wood Family Funeral Service handled the arrangements. Additional Comments: Volunteer submission - No relation to the deceased. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/kern/obits/ellison7516gob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/caobfiles/ File size: 3.8 Kb