In Memory: Ellen Conant Krohn

Ellen Amelia (Conant) Krohn, 72, died at her home on April 23, 2019. Born on Jan. 7, 1947, in Lewiston, Ellen was the youngest daughter of Alonzo and Ruperta (Turner) Conant. Ellen grew up in Auburn and graduated from Edward Little High School. At an early age, she fell in love with horses. Throughout her life, she rode, trained, and showed horses far and wide in New England. Her love of dressage took her to Portugal. There, she and her sister, Sue, received classical riding instructions from dressage master, Nuno Oliveira. Her two decades with her elegant and exceptional Morgan horses, Sapphira Justone and Johnathan Bond filled each day with joy; her barn time was her fun time.

Upon graduating from the University of Maine in Orono in 1969, Ellen taught English at the high school level in Winthrop and Auburn. In 1971, she married William B. Krohn. Students who met in Orono at the University of Maine in 1968, Ellen and Bill remained joyfully married for life. During her sophomore year at the University of Maine, she was inducted into the prestigious Eagles Honor Society. For many years she was an active volunteer and board member of the National Kidney Foundation, receiving the Pam Pinkham Volunteer Achievement Award in 1999 for her dedicated service. Ellen was a member of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Ellen was fond of traveling, especially to Bermuda with her sister Sue, and Key West, Fla. with her husband, Bill. An avid warm-water angler, she loved the "hook and fight" that it took to land a tarpon that weighed almost as much as she did. Ellen was a “woman of letters.” She loved the spoken and written word. After retiring, she published a chapbook of poetry titled Cogitations, and a biography about her father and a pictorial biography about her mother was at the printer at the time of her untimely death.

With a “can-do” attitude, Ellen saw the best in everyone, and always helped family and friends--whatever their needs. She will be most remembered for her love of people and her positive, fun-loving personality. On her 70th birthday, friends gave Ellen a card that read: "If you look at the world with eyes that you know what’s good and true, if you can sense the wonder in a child’s point of view, if you still share your laughter and spread some happiness, and know that love and friendship are the marks of success, then you’re not simply young at heart, you’re special through and through."

Ellen was predeceased by her parents and her brother, Scott. She is survived by the love of her life and husband of 48 years, William of Brewer; and her beloved sister, Sue Turner Conant of Auburn. At her request, services will be private. Donations in her memory may be made to the Polycystic Kidney Foundation P.O. Box 871847, Kansas City, MO 64187-1847 or to the Bangor Humane Society, 693 Mt Hope Ave., Bangor, ME 04401.