Ellen Isabel (Hughes) Conway, born June 30, 1925, died unexpectedly July 1, 2026, surrounded by family - her five surviving children, and grandchildren and great grandchildren who travelled in from Halifax, Toronto, Ottawa, and Vancouver to be with her in her last hours.
There are people who live fulsome lives – and then there was Ellen. Ellen grew up in Coalburn, NS, on her grandparents’ Hughes farm, which eventually became her parents’ farm. Ellen’s determination and grit, demonstrated through her adult life, were highly influenced by the hardships of the Depression, and then the War. From a very early age she helped raise the chickens and milked the cow with her Grandmother Hughes, to whom she always referred as her hero. The family did have chickens and dairy products to eat, and traded them with a neighbor for vegetables, but her young life was still spartan and tough.
As a teenager Ellen started also working outside the farm, at Peter Manos’ grocery store on Provost St in New Glasgow, often walking the 8 kms there and back from the farm. Ellen went to high school in New Glasgow, working at Manos’s and living with her grandmother Hughes and her Aunt Annie Weir "in town." Upon graduating high school, she continued working at Manos’ store while attending business college. After finishing business college, Ellen embarked on a series of office management jobs, first at Sobey’s Headquarters, then at McKay Plumbing and Heating, C.B. Hoare, and McCormick Proudfoot Insurance. Always looking for a new opportunity, Ellen joined Bryan Aluminum making and selling aluminum doors and windows then started a new venture with Clarence Hawboldt doing the same. Ever entrepreneurial, Ellen also sold Avon products and distributed Amway as additional side projects.
On a personal front, while working at Manos’ store Ellen met Earl Conway. Earl was a frequent customer at the lunch counter and was a boarder upstairs at the store. Ellen and Earl married in 1944. Shortly after, they bought the house at 152 Norma St and soon started raising a family with the birth of Lawrence (Lornie) in 1947, and Allan in 1948. During her early married life Ellen became a member of the St. John’s Parish Catholic Women’s League (CWL) where she spent many hours catering to wedding and other receptions at the Church Hall, enlisting Earl’s help in cooking turkeys and hams, and preparing platters of sandwiches and sweets. She was a superb baker and it certainly showed in her catering work with the CWL. During those early years she also starting knitting hats, gloves and jackets for her children and Earl, crafted beautiful purses and belts in leather, and produced art items out of copper. She loved to knit and continued knitting her entire life – she was knitting more dishcloths for her grandchildren the week she died. Ellen and Earl brought four more children home to Norma St - Elaine in 1958, Anne in 1961, Tony in 1964, and Alastair in 1968.
In 1968, Ellen and Earl acquired five acres of land off Mountain Rd and North Albert St where Ellen, along with Earl and her brother Cedric, built her dream home. By the time they began building, Ellen had been collecting coloured field and beach stones for years – all her children remember collecting rocks and then storing them in the yard at Norma St – possibly without a total picture of how they would be used in the end. The rocks were put to good use in building the house, creating multiple attractive features: exterior rock walls, two interior fireplaces, and an outdoor fireplace/barbecue. She lived in her home on North Albert St until her passing.
Upon moving into their new home in 1969, Ellen immediately went about turning the walkout lower level into two rental apartments. Earl, who worked his whole adult life at Thompson Sutherland’s eventually rising to General Manager, passed away far too early in 1976. At that time Ellen had five children still at home ranging from 28 years old to 8. Ellen used the small amount of insurance money she received upon Earl’s passing to buy a duplex on North Albert St immediately below her property to use as a rental property, and then built additions on both ends to add two more apartments. And, a few years later she had enough money to add the double car attached garage onto 10 North Albert St (and pretty soon had turned it into another apartment). At some point around this time, Ellen also learned that large numbers of skilled tradespeople were coming to Pictou County regularly for maintenance shutdowns at the different industrial plants. True to form, she set up a business housing and feeding as many as 22 visiting workers, often for four or five weeks at a time. As of the mid-July 2026, she still has some contracted to stay.
Another of Ellen’s career journeys emerged from building her home. In buying a central vacuum system from an Electrolux agent in 1969 for the home, Ellen decided she loved the Electrolux product so she also should become an agent, which she did. Ellen spent the next 25-plus years plying the roads of Central and Eastern Nova Scotia selling vacuum cleaners and rug shampooers/floor polishers to myriad families, essentially door-to-door. She came to love that product and the company. In turn, the company showered her with many recognitions and awards, with an Electrolux diamond brooch award becoming one of her very favorite pieces of jewelry. Ellen sold her last floor polisher a year ago – at age 100! – from the leftover stock she had when she "retired."
Ellen’s eldest son Lornie had Down Syndrome and lived at home with his Mom until he passed away in 1989. Lornie’s room was replete with rows of records, and his shelves were filled with magazine clippings of new Corvettes, Jeeps and Cadillacs. He shared his mom’s love of country music, and they went to many concerts together over the years, including ones with Johnny Cash, Hank Snow and Tommy Hunter.
Four of Ellen’s five surviving children, Elaine, Anne, Anthony, and Alastair, remained in Pictou County, and as adults they (and their spouses) diligently responded to her requests: to fix a door on one of the detached garages she had built over the years, install a window in one of her houses, move a fridge out of one of her apartments and move a replacement in, or any other needs she saw. She spent many hours with family members at celebrations, such as pool parties at Elaine’s, outings to Mother Webb’s (often with Anne) for steak, trips to casinos in Halifax (usually with son Alastair or daughter Anne) and even in Las Vegas (with Anthony and Alastair) on the way to granddaughter Janice’s wedding in Santa Cruz, California. For a number of winters well into her eighties, she spent time in Florida, bringing her four youngest children with her first, then later travelling with Elaine and her husband, and sometimes sister Katherine. In Florida she indulged her lifelong loves of the beach and country music, as she and the family enjoyed many concerts there as well. To the end, the family gathered for most major holidays at Ellen’s where they collectively prepared and ate feasts fit for a gourmet.
Ellen loved to play bingo and even at age 90 still picked up her bingo-playing buddies to go to bingo games around Pictou County and also in Truro. She did stop driving at age 95 but still had a valid driver’s license when she passed away. After she became less mobile in the last two years, Ellen religiously played TV Bingo every Monday and Thursday night. Ellen also loved to sing and performing became a passion of hers, sometimes at local entertainment venues but most often at one of her children’s homes. Even in recent times she could sing for hours, including at her 99th and 100th birthday celebrations.
Ellen was predeceased by husband, Earl, son, Lawrence, father, George Hughes, mother, Gertrude (MacDonald) Hughes, sister, Annie (Danny Gammon) Callahan, and brother, Cedric (Katherine) Hughes. Ellen is survived by sister, Katherine (George) Vincent; children, Allan, Elaine (Brian) MacDonald, Anne (Wade) Baxter, Anthony (Joan MacIntosh), and Alastair (Carol); and by grandchildren, Janice (Steve) Moskalik, Suzy (Jamie) Vadori, Angela (Calvin) Lewis, Christopher MacDonald, Chrissie (Matthew) Binder, Ryan (Avery Jones) Baxter, Jerry (Dan Kelly) MacPherson, Zachary Conway, Layne (Sydni) Conway, and Steven (Rylee Fraser) Conway. Ellen was also the proud great grandmother to 12 children, including one-month-old, Max Conway.
The family would like to extend gratitude, on our behalf and also Mom’s, to the many wonderful people and organizations that made Mom’s last years such happy and productive ones even as she lost mobility. First there are the many caregivers who looked after her so lovingly. While there were many, Kathy Dunbar, Rhonda Wong, Gladys Cameron and Jenn Cooley spent the most time with Mom. Dr. Gregor McLean took extremely good care of Mom over the years and we’d also like to thank his sister, Charlene Knoester, who was our conduit when we needed something after-hours. A number of women from St. John’s Parish CWL were also especially kind, bringing Mom Communion regularly, inviting her to many CWL events where she usually got fed generously, etc. Brenda Johnston was especially active in keeping Mom up-to-date and included in the organization's events. Father Godwin, a recent arrival at St. John’s, became a friend.
Visitation will be Sunday, July 5, from 2-4 and 6-8 pm at R.H. Porter Funeral Home, 55 Almont Ave., New Glasgow. The funeral will be held at St. John the Baptist Church in New Glasgow at 11 am, Monday, July 6, with a luncheon reception in the Church Hall immediately following. The interment will be at Heatherdale Memorial Gardens after the reception. If anyone wants to make a donation in Ellen’s memory, we suggest Summer Street, as Ellen and Earl were instrumental in the establishment of Summer Street, or a charity of your choice.