Ellen Renee Craig

Ellen passed peacefully on August 5, 2021, at age 68, after a courageous 30 year fight with breast cancer. She loved life and lived it on her terms. She loved music, art, dancing and had a never ending thirst for knowledge, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art & Music Education and two Masters Degrees.

Ellen was a warm outgoing person. She loved to make new friends. She enjoyed hearing about the families of the nurses and lab techs at the Froedtert Cancer Center, and they all loved having Ellen as a patient during her treatments. Her open and loving heart will be missed.

Ellen was born in Canton, IL, but grew up in Maroa, IL, where she played the French horn in her high school band. She attended Millikin University, Illinois State, and Garrett Seminary. She was a member of the “Spirit of Praise” touring choir in college. She moved to Wisconsin in the late 80’s and worked mostly in the medical field. She finished her career as a Clinical Research Coordinator in Pediatric Oncology. Working in this capacity gave Ellen the opportunity to draw on her master’s degree in grief counseling to help families through immensely difficult times.

Ellen is survived by her spouse/caregiver Mike Van Brunt, step-daughter Jen Nicolosi (Mike) and step-granddaughter, Evie; sister-in-law, Joyce Craig: niece Paula Davis (Scott), grand-nieces Elizabeth Bosma (Shayne) and Amanda Elkins (James) and their children; nephew Kevin Craig and grand-nephew Isaac; niece Anna Migeon (Gerard), grand-nephew Pierre Migeon and grand-niece Erika Migeon; and her brother Larry. Ellen was proceeded in by her parents, Eugene and Marjorie Craig.

A celebration of Ellen’s life will be held at Trinity United Church of Christ, 4435 North Calhoun Road, Brookfield, WI starting at 3:00 PM on Friday, August 27, 2021.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Froedtert Hospital Foundation using the following link https://my.froedterthospitalfoundation.org/makeagift. When making your gift, select “other” under gift designation and then type in “Small Stones” in the following text box. Before submitting your gift, you can choose to make it a tribute gift in memory of Ellen Craig,”

For those wanting to mail in their gift, please write the check out to the Froedtert Hospital Foundation. In the memo line, please include “Small Stones in memory of Ellen Craig”