News Detail
Memorial Service for Ellie Halm '16
Jo Ellen “Ellie” Halm, 22, of Alexandria, Va., passed away on November 13, 2020. A private service celebrating her life was held on Ellie’s birthday, Tuesday, November 24, at 4:30 p.m. in Callaway Chapel at Episcopal High School. The service was streamed and can be viewed here. The program is available online here.
Ellie was a loving daughter, granddaughter, sister, cousin, and friend who brought a special spirit and energy to all of her relationships. She had a magical way with young children, who would celebrate the news that Ellie was coming to babysit. She will be especially missed by her family, friends, and her many little fans.
Ellie earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2020 from Franklin and Marshall College with a major in film and media studies and a minor in music. She played bassoon, flute, and piccolo in the College’s orchestra, philharmonia chamber orchestra, and symphonic wind ensemble; served as the student stage manager of the Barshinger Center; and served as the secretary of Mu Upsilon Sigma, the music honor society.
Prior to attending Franklin and Marshall, Ellie graduated from Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va. At EHS she was the secretary of the GSA, served as a Maroon Mentor, and performed in orchestra, jazz band, and dance. Ellie participated in the winter musical and in afternoon art, and she received the George William Laird ’60 Award for Outstanding Photography. Ellie was proud to have run cross-country for her dad for two years, and during her senior year she captained cross-country and won the Coaches’ Award.
During the summers of 2016, 2017, and 2018, Ellie worked at the Silver Bay YMCA camp on Lake George in New York, a special community where her parents had met and where she created so many cherished memories with family and friends throughout her lifetime. As an “Emp” at the Silver Bay children’s pavilion, Ellie worked with “Robins and Crickets,” the infants and toddlers at the family camp. She earned the Emp Alumni Scholarship from Silver Bay.
After graduating college, Ellie returned to her home on Episcopal’s campus, where she lived with her mother, Joey Halm, and siblings, Abby and Mac. When the School sent out an urgent request for lifeguards this summer, she enthusiastically answered the call; pool time would never be the same for the faculty kids on campus. When Ellie was at the pool, she was always arranging fun games and activities. Ellie, a huge fan of all things Disney, even donned a Little Mermaid tail for lifeguard duty one afternoon. The families who went to the pool that day will have a treasured memory that is quintessential Ellie.
While Ellie and her big sister Abby had vastly different interests, they were fiercely loyal to one another and often came together for sister sleepovers. Ellie wowed Abby this past summer when she designed, bought supplies for, and wielded power tools in the creation of a platform bed for the back of Abby’s now “camper-car.”
Ellie was certainly not a sports fan, but she was a huge fan of her younger brother, Mac. She was a proud big sister who attended many of his games and loved to curl up with him to watch “Survivor” or “Friends.”
From an early age, Ellie was always the go-to babysitter for families at Episcopal or in any community where she lived. While in college she was a frequent babysitter for the children of Perrin Dent Patterson, an EHS alumna, who lived nearby. After Ellie graduated and moved back home, Perrin asked her daughter what she loved about Ellie, and she responded, “Everything. Seriously, everything. I can’t pick just one thing I love about Ellie because she’s perfect. I do miss talking about Disney princesses with her...and coloring. I LOVED coloring with her. Gosh, I miss her!”
Ellie was preceded in death by her father, Joe Halm. She is survived by her mother, Joey, sister Abby, brother Mac, grandparents Jim and Martha Lockwood and Jules and Gale Halm, and the families of Aunt Suzanne (Halm) and Uncle Steve Locke, Uncle Blake and Aunt Alecia Lockwood, Uncle Jason and Aunt Traci Lockwood, and Uncle Mitch and Aunt Kerri Lockwood.
