Ellen Jane Brashear

ELLENJANE BRASHEAR, of Bel Air died on August 11, 2003 at Calvert Manor Nursing Home. She was 83.

Born April 29, 1920 in Sparrows Point, she was the daughter of the late Helen Mengle Bamford and George F. Bamford, Sr.

She graduated from Sparrows Point High School and from Towson State Teachers College. During WW II, she volunteered for the American Red Cross where she met and fell in love with her husband. After the war, she and her husband Fenton W. Brashear, toured Europe when they were stationed in Italy and Germany. They traveled to Asia where she collected Japanese art, much of which adorned her halls and bedroom until her death.

She kept detailed diaries of their excursions, collected numerous mementos and eventually returned to the United States. They lived The Army Life in Detroit, Michigan and in Quentico, Virginia before returning to Maryland. EllenJane, as she preferred being called, and Maj. Brashear became residents of Colonial Acres in Bel Air in the 1960’s when he was stationed in Aberdeen. They enjoyed collecting and refurbishing family heirlooms handed down from her grandmother and great aunts. To her nephews, great-nephews and niece, she was the penultimate “Aunt Jane,” childless, yet mother to all.

Mrs. Brashear is survived by a brother, George F. Bamford, Jr. of Ocean Pines; nephews, George F. Bamford, III of New York, New York; Michael Kenneth Bamford of Joppa; and Douglas Grant Bamford of Street; great-nephews, George F. Bamford, IV of Hanover, Pennsylvania; Bryan Bamford of Joppa; and Douglas Bamford, Jr. of Dundalk; and great-niece, Amy Katherine Gallagher of Indianapolis, Indiana.

In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her husband. In accordance with her wishes, she was cremated and buried at Arlington National Cemetery with her husband, father, and mother. A memorial service will be held at a later date at her church, Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air.