(Above: Paul Arthur, Scott Andrews, Sue West, Amy Rogers, and Don Hudson)
Editors note: the follow are some remarks presented by Nancy Kennedy and Anne Leslie at Chewonki on Friday, August 22nd. Nearly 300 of Tim’s family, friends, and Chewonki connections gathered for a lovely celebration on Orchard Field.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Nancy Kennedy, the President of Chewonki. On behalf of Tim Ellis’ family, Anne Leslie and I welcome you warmly to Chewonki. We have all traveled here from our different physical places, bringing just as many feelings as there are people to this important gathering to remember and give thanks for the life of Tim.
I am so glad you are here, we are here, in this place where Tim Ellis laughed and played as a toddler, learned as a boy, and led as a man. And while he eventually handed over this remarkable organization to others to steward, gratefully, he never truly left. Tim continued to stay in touch with Chewonki, to care about Chewonki, even as his many other adventures unfolded. Each summer, from his house just across Chewonki Creek, he could hear the joyful sounds of Campfire on Saturday evenings. And he could see campers paddling on Montsweag Bay, where he did the same for so many years.
I wish Tim could have been with me a week ago, as I said good-bye to the last campers of 2025 – our 111th summer of laughing and learning on the neck. It’s a very emotional moment– lots of hugs, some tears, high-fives, and good-byes with promises to keep in touch and “see you next year!”s.
We had an amazing summer. Campers, counselors, trippers, and trip leaders came to Chewonki from across the United States and from several countries. These kids and young adults were curious, engaged, courageous, hopeful, motivated, and full of joy! Their optimism and energy were uplifting and inspiring, and bode well for the future!
Tim would be delighted. His vision still helps shape the experiences we work hard to give to young people. His ideas are deeply ingrained in Chewonki programs–and while we keep changing and evolving, as Tim told me this spring that we must, our heart and soul remain remarkably close to his: a commitment to excellent education, teaching young people to create and sustain communities and community life, inviting them to understand nature–and discovering how to have fun, together, in the outdoors–no screens except the kind that keep mosquitoes out! These ideas nourished him, and he found new ways to bring them to others. “Nancy,” Tim said to me, “I want you to always remember that at its deepest self, Chewonki is a place of education. And good education is always, thoughtfully and intentionally on the move.” Tim set Chewonki up to change lives. And we do. I am so grateful for his work and his vision, and for the chance to tell him so just days before he died.
Before I hand the program over to Anne: will you please join me for a moment to center ourselves for our journey ahead through this time of remembering – Let us first create a space for a moment of silence: We give thanks for the gift of Tim’s life in all of its fullness. We come to hold up memories, to seek comfort, and to celebrate all that Tim was able to do and to be. In this time of gathering, may these moments of remembering become blessings that touch and heal us.
-Nancy Kennedy, President
Chewonki Foundation
(Above: Anne Leslie, interfaith Chaplain and family member)
We are here today in this beautiful place. Safe. With friends. Thinking about a wonderful person we loved. We know there are countless people who, on this same day, will suffer–in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, our own country, and many other places around the world. May the peace we enjoy come to them soon.
Hello. I am Anne Leslie. I’m an interfaith chaplain, and a writer and editor who worked for Chewonki for many years. My sister, Amy Rogers, taught English at Maine Coast Semester for nearly 30. My three daughters worked for or tripped with Chewonki. And my son-in-law came here for 13 summers. My fundamental claim to Tim, though, is my husband, Seaver Leslie, once a Chewonki counselor but always one of Tim’s cousins, who, like all of Tim’s cousins, admired him from start to finish.
Many others of you knew Tim longer and/or better than I did. Not long before he died, he asked that I lead this service. He didn’t give me a chance to refuse! Dollars to donuts, some of you also once wondered whether you could fulfill his expectations of you–but you rose to the occasion. And I will do my best.
Chewonki infused Tim’s childhood, adolescence, and much of his adult life. Growing up, he spent every summer here with his mother and father. His father, Hardy Ellis, was Clarence Allen’s right-hand man here and at the Rivers School near Boston, where they taught. Tim’s mother, Gogo, had a big, joyful laugh and shared Hardy’s love for the outdoors. Her extended family had deep roots in Wiscasset and surrounded–some say doted on–Tim.
All over Chewonki Neck as a boy, Tim grew amid a lively community of other boys and educators. He mastered woodcraft, paddling, camping, and, perhaps most important, how to connect with other people in pursuit of shared goals in great adventures. As an adolescent, he ventured further afield on wilderness trips across Maine, traveling north from Boston or, later, Bowdoin College, stopping with a gang of friends at his grandmother Gummy’s house in Wiscasset to stow sleeping bags, tents, and provisions–or skis and bear rugs–for the night before heading to the wilds in his Model A Ford.
So he navigated school, college, then the U.S. Army in Korea, teaching at an international school in Switzerland, and graduate school at Tufts University–before returning to Chewonki, this time with Margaret and a growing family, prepared to lead.
The writer Barry Lopez said, “Everything is held together with stories. That is all that is holding us together, stories and compassion.” Now Tim’s friends, colleagues, and family will share stories, songs, and readings to illuminate his life.
-Anne Leslie
