Funeral and Shiva for Stephen J. Ellmann

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Stephen J. Ellmann

Stephen Jonathan Ellmann, son of authors Richard and Mary Ellmann, was born on June 20, 1951 and died on March 8, 2019, surrounded by his loving family.  A distinguished author, educator, and advocate for social justice, Steve was an expert on the South African legal system during and after the apartheid era and a pioneer in the development of clinical legal theory studies.  Diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma in 2015, Steve spent his remaining years writing a monumental biography of South African judge Arthur Chaskalson, a leading figure in the struggle against apartheid, which is soon to be published.  His legal career began in Atlanta, GA, where he served as Law Clerk to Hon. Elbert Tuttle, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth (now Eleventh) Circuit in 1976-77.  From 1977-83 he worked as staff attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, AL, where his practice included institutional reform litigation for mentally disabled people and prison inmates, voting rights cases, anti-Ku Klux Klan suits, and defense work in capital murder trials.  In 1983 he took up the position of Associate Professor of Law at Columbia University, where he founded the Clinical Theory Workshop in 1985.  He pursued his passion for legal pedagogy with a move in 1992 to New York Law School, where as Martin Professor of Law he has trained hundreds of future attorneys in legal ethics and in support of social justice. 

A long-term resident of Upper Montclair, NJ, Steve is survived by his beloved wife Teresa M. Delcorso Ellmann, his children Brian, David, and Nora Ellmann, and his sisters Maud and Lucy Ellmann, Brothers-in-law John Wilkinson and Todd McEwen, Daughters-in-law Karen Ellmann and Nevedha Rajan and Grandsons Patrick and Zac Ellmann.

Donations in Steve's memory can be made to the New York Law School Stephen J. Ellmann South Africa Judicial Fellows Program at www.nyls.edu/InMemoriam

Donations also may be sent to the program c/o New York Law School, Office of Institutional Advancement, 185 West Broadway, New York, NY 10013

Additionally, donations can be made to the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation to support research and advocacy to find a cure for Cholangiocarcinoma.

We invite you to join us for Steve’s funeral on Monday, March 11, 2019 at 11:00 am at B’nai Keshet (99 South Fullerton Ave, Montclair, NJ).  A Jewish burial will then take place at Our Lady of the Magnificat Cemetery (2 Miller Road, Kinnelon, NJ) at 1pm.

The family will sit Shiva at their home on Monday, March 11 from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm and Tuesday, March 12th from 2:00pm to 4:00pm and 6:30pm to 9:00pm.

For more information please visit: https://proutfuneralhome.com

A Sad Footnote

While we were getting the good news I wrote about in my last post, another member of the cholangiocarcinoma community, Sarah Bennett, was entering home hospice and dying. Today, September 22, we went to her funeral, about an hour from our home in New Jersey.

Every death from illness is a matter of sorrow, but Sarah’s was especially so. She was the creator and guiding force behind the Facebook patients’ group for people with this illness, the Cholangiocarcinoma Warriors. This is a difficult group to lead, because the members are going through a very wide range of different experiences. Some are at early stages and can report successful treatment (a few can do so even at later stages); some are ill and suffering; some are dying. I personally felt guilty about reporting my own recent good news when I was aware that Sarah was rapidly declining. But the Warriors group under Sarah’s leadership set out to be a home for all these different people, as welcoming to those expressing confidence as to those feeling despair. Sarah accomplished this almost impossible feat largely by giving to the group her own tremendously strong commitment against the disease and its impact, and her close personal connection to all the group’s members. It was impressive and inspirational.

If the impact of this disease had anything to do with what people deserve, she would have beaten its onslaught, and would still be on the scene helping to inspire and remember other patients. I should add that I don’t say this to challenge anyone’s religion. Some of the members of the Warrior group do respond to events in their illness in very religious, mainly Christian terms; but some don’t. All are welcome. I don't know exactly how religious Sarah herself was;  certainly she could swear up a storm, and members of the group took that in stride too.

Deaths like hers are hard for anyone from any system of belief to come to grips with. Her eloquent family, however, brought her to life for us during the service, and we learned that in the course of the service and two days of visitation, approximately 1000 people had come to remember her. Some had traveled many hours to attend. That effort by so many reflects Sarah's exceptional contributions. And those must have gone well beyond the Warriors group, since there aren’t close to 1000 active participants in this group – cholangiocarcinoma is a rare disease. Nothing she did in her 35 years, however, seems more remarkable than the effect she had on this patient community during the four years that she herself fought against this disease, and helped so many others to fight their struggles too.

To our great sadness, she is no longer with us.