Marjorie Ellen Crowley  67, of Phoenix passed away on February 8, 2017. Ellen Crowley (nee VanArsdell) was born on January 27, 1950 in Tucson. She moved to Phoenix in 1955 and attended Maryland Elementary School and Washington High School, where she was the co-validictorian of the class of 1968. She attended the University of Arizona where she met her future husband, Marc. Ellen later attended the Arizona State University College of Law. She began her legal career with the firm of Martinez and Curtis, and in 1986, started as a staff attorney at the Arizona Supreme Court. She served as a member of the Civil Rules Committee for 25 years, and was also a member of the Arizona Women Lawyers Association and the Horace Rumpole American Inn of Court. She ended her 30-year career at the court as the Chief Staff Attorney. Ellen was quiet and unassuming, but also unflappable. She was kind and fiercely intelligent. She loved the Desert Botanical Garden, happy hours with friends, and most of all, spending time with her family, including her granddaughters, who in her last years, were the lights of her life. She is happy to be missing the Trump presidency. She is survived by her daughter Andrea, son Kevin (Laura), granddaughters Eloise and Madelene, brother Jeff, and sister Karen. She was predeceased by her parents Madelene and Louis and her brother James. Services will be held at the Rio Salado Audubon Center, 3131 S. Central Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85040 on February 19, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in Ellen's name to Planned Parenthood or UNICEF.

Published in The Arizona Republic on Feb. 12, 2017