On Monday, December 18, 2023, Ellen Wolock died after a long battle with frontotemporal dementia. She was surrounded by her husband, two daughters, and their partners, who came together to tell their favorite stories about her over the torrential downpour outside. In ways, the two weeks preceding her death were a culmination of the love and warmth that she had cultivated in her life: dogs slumbered on the bed next to her, friends and family from around the country visited to hold her hand and share funny stories, and her grandkids curled up to play next to her.

Ellen’s life was centered on helping those who could not help themselves. From fighting to improve preschool programs for every child as the Director of Early Childhood Education for the New Jersey Department of Education, to pulling over to help every injured animal she found on the road, she passed on and amplified the legacy of unconditional love that she inherited from her parents, Isabel and Melvin Wolock.

Ellen brought kindness and a wicked sense of humor to every facet of her life. She was famous for falling asleep on couches with dogs, making the most delicious eggplant parmesan known to humankind, speed walking through the neighborhood in oversized fleeces, leading impromptu Pilates sessions in the airport during family trips, doing a cartwheel on a daughter’s dare in the grocery-store aisle, and offering an open door to anyone who needed a refuge.

She played many roles: the youngest of a family of three, whose antics entertained her two older brothers, Steven and David Wolock; a confidant for her friends and sisters-in-law as they navigated life and parenting together; and a mentor to her colleagues at the Department of Education. However, her most beloved roles were as wife to Warren Buckleitner, mother to her daughters, Sarah and Jenna Buckleitner, and grandmother to her grandkids, Linden and Hollis Youngmann.

When counseling her daughters on choosing their future partners, she always told them to marry their best friends. Warren and Ellen were married for 34 years—and “best friends” is the most fitting way to characterize those years. Even in the end stages of her disease, Warren could still make her laugh.

Ellen is deeply missed by everyone who knew her. Her family will be hosting a celebration of her life on Saturday, March 2, 2024, at Stangl Factory in Flemington, New Jersey. Please click online HERE for more information.

Life celebration arrangements and cremation were private under the care and direction of Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 38 State Highway 31, Flemington, NJ.

You are encouraged to visit Ellen’s permanent life celebration site at www.wrightfamily.com to light a candle of hope, leave messages of condolence, share words of comfort and recollection, and post photographs of her life.

Donations in Ellen’s name will be collected to help build a playground at a local park. The family is accepting donations to build a public playground in Ellen’s honor. To donate please click online HERE.

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Wright & Ford, your local, family owned & operated “Life Celebration Home”

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