Eleanor Henke

How does one sum up a life well and thoroughly lived by reciting a few boring statistics? Born in West Virginia on Feb 6, 1950, grade school in Battle Creek Michigan, junior high school in Everett Washington, high school in Lakewood Colorado, graduated from Colorado State with a BA 1972, two years in the Peace Corps in Bogota Colombia followed by a full career with US Fish and Wildlife Service on wildlife refuges in Washington State. None of this does any justice to someone who was as multi-faceted and loved life, and was loved in life as much as Ellie Henke.

Ellie was a talented artist all her life in many mediums. Much of her art was inspired by a lifetime of competing in horse eventing, and a great deal of time spent in the mountains, in nature, and bird-watching. She was also expert with many kinds of fiber art and taught many classes as a volunteer instructor in community education.

She played cello for several years in a local class and orchestra and helped other beginning musicians learn from her experience. Playing daily herself and with many friends was important to her.

Looking out my window, I see many fruits of her “green thumb” spreading around our home in Talkeetna. Ellie designed and built her own greenhouse for growing beautiful flowers as well as a healthy organic kitchen garden.

She was a very accomplished technical climber and skilled professional guide and traveled the world guiding mountain climbing. She also enjoyed many personal trips world wide with sea kayak, pack raft, mountain bike, canoe, ski, sailboat, and of course climbing gear.

Ellie was a warm, supportive, and fun to be around human being who was also very independent, intelligent, organized, creative, and often outspoken in support of truth and justice. She was a great believer in creating your own reality and going after the life that one truly desires in a very conscious and aware fashion. She died much too early at 67 years young on October 2, 2017 after an only three week fight with stage 4 gall bladder cancer.

She is survived by her older brother and his wife Terry and Sue Henke and their two sons Patrick and Ryan in Overland Park, Kansas; her younger brother and his wife Tom Henke and Monica DiFranco in Covina, California; her youngest brother and his wife Fred Henke and Martha Lahana of Littleton, Colorado; and her constant life companion of 33 years, soul mate and husband Willi Prittie of Talkeetna. She is well loved, and will be missed by many, especially by me. . .

A celebration of her life is being planned for Autumnal (fall) Equinox this year, September 22, 2018 in her home village of Talkeetna, Alaska.

In lieu of flowers for this celebration, I would request that all consider a donation in her name to the Jessica Stevens Community Foundation, P.O. Box 436, Talkeetna, AK 99676, which benefits many local non-profits, or to KTNA community radio