On February 3rd Women Physicians throughout the country were honored for their contributions to the medical field. At the Inn at Greenwood, we celebrated resident Eleanor “Ellie” Kennedy for her career in medicine and learned more about the woman who inspired her.
According to Ellie, to tell her story we must start with her mother Anna. Anna lived in Romania during the Nazi regime. To keep her safe, Anna’s father insisted his 16-year-old daughter move to St. Paul, Minnesota, and marry a man twice her age. Anna and John had two daughters, Ellie was the oldest.
Not long after they were married, Ellie’s dad John died of tuberculosis. To make money for the household, Anna utilized her talent as a seamstress, making vestments for the priests. It was Anna who later paid for Ellie’s education at University of Minnesota Medical School.
Ellie specialized in radiology and spent three years at the Mayo Clinic completing clinics. She married Tom later in life, and when he was relocated by the Army to Fitzsimmons in Colorado, Ellie started her practice at the Student Health Services of University of Denver. To balance work and family, Ellie worked part-time and enjoyed taking school vacations with Tom and their three kids.
“A lot has changed in the medical field in my 100-plus years,” said Ellie. “But, the best lesson I learned from in life is to be self-efficient.”
