Life Story: Ellin Ossandon; Was Executive Assistant

Ellin was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from Catherine McCauley High School. Ellin and Gil were happily married for 64 years. After raising their family in Brooklyn, they moved to Somerset in 1986 and became members of St. Matthias Church.

Ellin had a lengthy career as an executive assistant in Manhattan for Kidder Peabody and Paul Weiss. Ellin and Gil loved to travel and visited France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Scotland, Austria, Hungary, Ireland, and Japan. Ellin made regular trips to Germany to visit her daughters and more importantly, her grandchildren, who she loved dearly.

In Somerset, she was an active board member for the County Club Homes at Quailbrook Condo Association and strived to improve the community for her neighbors. At her home parish of St. Matthias, she was a lector, a member of the sharing group, and she assisted grieving families as a member of the funeral ministry. She was looking forward to starting her new volunteer job at the church’s office.

Ellin loved life and made people laugh. She was always open to new ideas and adventures. Throughout her life she valued and nurtured friendships. Ellin was a very strong person who supported her friends and family in both good and bad times. She was always there when you needed her.

Ellin was predeceased by her husband, Gil Ossandon; her daughter, Meg Ossandon, both in 2023, and by her brother Mickey McGrath.

She is survived by her daughters, Gail Jones and her husband David, Jane Ossandon-Schönfeld and her husband Matthias, and Carol and Detlef Höpfner. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Lucas Gilbert Höpfner, Tristan Schönfeld and Anya Höpfner.

A funeral mass will take place at 10 a.m. January 24 at St. Matthias Church, 168 John F. Kennedy Boulevard in Somerset. The mass will also be live streamed on the St. Matthias You Tube Channel, https://www.youtube.com/@StMatthiasSomersetNJ

Committal services will be held privately following mass at Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veteran Cemetery in Wrightstown.

In memory of Ellin’s life, the family asks that a charitable donation be made in Ellin’s name to The Center for Great Expectations at https://www.cge-nj.org/support-us/donate-now/

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