By Staff
Sarah Ellen Oden, 55, passed away on Tuesday, February 20, 2007, in Virginia Beach, Va., after a courageous battle with cancer. She was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, on October 1, 1951, the daughter of the late Sarah Ellen Sykes Oden and William Augustus Oden, formerly of Virginia Beach, Va.
Ellen grew up in Norfolk, Va., and attended the public schools there. She was a 1973 graduate of Old Dominion University with a B.S. degree in mathematics. Upon graduation, she began her federal Civil Service career with NASA as a computer scientist. She retired from SPAWAR Charleston in October, 2004, with over thirty years of service. Ellen was an avid and accomplished horsewoman, and won local and national competitions in the hunter and jumper classes, showing her own horses.
Survivors include her brother, William A. Oden, Jr. and his wife, Beth, of Washington, North Carolina, her nephew, William A. Oden, III and his wife, Liz, of New Bern, North Carolina, and her niece, Elizabeth Rodman Oden of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In addition, she is survived by her partner, Keisha M. Gorski of Virginia Beach, Va., and her life long and best friend, Pamela S. Hunt of Norfolk, Va. Ellen was predeceased by an older sister, Mary Anna, who died shortly after birth.
A memorial service will be conducted at 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 24, 2007, at H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts., Laskin Road Chapel, by the Rev. Stephen Ratcliff, Associate Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Virginia Beach, Va. Interment will be at a later date at the family plot in Oakdale Cemetery, Washington, North Carolina. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to First Presbyterian Church, 211 West Second Street, Washington, NC 27889, or the charity of one’s choice.
Paid Obituary