A Friend's Passing
May. 30th, 2006 01:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bjarvisEllen was my director earlier this decade. At the time, we were both board members of unrelated not-for-profits which dealt with dead & mourning and we chatted frequently about our volunteer work, musical theater and her cats.
She moved into the international relations division of our company, and I was sent out of the downtown offices into the Virginia and Maryland data centers so our paths rarely crossed in the past couple of years. Still, I will miss her.
From http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/28/skydiving.death.ap/index.html
The Associated Press
Sunday, May 28, 2006; 7:44 PM
STERLING, Ohio -- A first-time skydiver slipped from her harness during a jump and fell to her death, authorities said.
Ellen Ann McWilliams, 44, of West Chester, Pa., was participating in a tandem jump Saturday with the AerOhio Skydiving school near Sterling, about 40 miles south of Cleveland, according to the Wayne County Sheriff's office.
During tandem jumps, a novice skydiver is harnessed to the chest of an experienced jumper. When the parachute is deployed, the experienced skydiver guides the team to the ground.
A preliminary investigation by the sheriff's office indicated McWilliams slipped from the harness after the parachute opened.
It is not known how far the woman fell, and the sheriff's office did not release any further details.
A message seeking comment was left Sunday at AerOhio Skydiving.
It's a tremendous comfort to know that when she was having the time of her life right up to the end: it's so like her. In fact, I suspect her last thought would have been something goofy like, "Geez, I wish I had a martini right now."
She moved into the international relations division of our company, and I was sent out of the downtown offices into the Virginia and Maryland data centers so our paths rarely crossed in the past couple of years. Still, I will miss her.
From http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/28/skydiving.death.ap/index.html
The Associated Press
Sunday, May 28, 2006; 7:44 PM
STERLING, Ohio -- A first-time skydiver slipped from her harness during a jump and fell to her death, authorities said.
Ellen Ann McWilliams, 44, of West Chester, Pa., was participating in a tandem jump Saturday with the AerOhio Skydiving school near Sterling, about 40 miles south of Cleveland, according to the Wayne County Sheriff's office.
During tandem jumps, a novice skydiver is harnessed to the chest of an experienced jumper. When the parachute is deployed, the experienced skydiver guides the team to the ground.
A preliminary investigation by the sheriff's office indicated McWilliams slipped from the harness after the parachute opened.
It is not known how far the woman fell, and the sheriff's office did not release any further details.
A message seeking comment was left Sunday at AerOhio Skydiving.
It's a tremendous comfort to know that when she was having the time of her life right up to the end: it's so like her. In fact, I suspect her last thought would have been something goofy like, "Geez, I wish I had a martini right now."
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