Ellen Stedjan

Ellen Christina Stedjan (née Vestol) of Fair Lawn, New Jersey passed peacefully from this life to the next on December 7, 2023.  She was 68 years old. 

Ellen was born to Kristen and Eleanor Vestol on July 21, 1955 in Teaneck, New Jersey.   Her childhood was spent in a loving household with her sisters Ruth and Anne, and later joined by her brother Bill and sister Elisabeth.  Ellen met her beloved husband Erling at Hillcrest Academy in Fergus Falls, Minnesota when they were 16 years old.  Ellen and Erling were wed in 1976 and adored and enjoyed each other every day of their 47-year union.

Ellen poured herself into others.  She raised three sons, was a supportive and loving aunt to 23 nieces and nephews, and an adoring grandmother to six grandchildren.  Church was a central component of her life, counting herself as a congregant and a member of Calvary Lutheran Brethren Church in Bergenfield for her entire life.  It was at church that she made life-long friends and utilized her beautiful singing voice.  Ellen loved children and taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School for decades.

Professionally, Ellen worked as a copyeditor at Prentice Hall Publishing until she left the workforce to raise her children and maintain the books for her husband’s construction business.  She rejoined the full-time workforce when her children reached their teenage years, using her gifts at Hawthorne Bible House bookstore for nearly 20 years.

Ellen is survived by her husband Erling, her sons David, Scott, and Daniel, daughters-in-law Annamarie, Megan, and Katheryn, and her grandchildren: Gianna, Erik, Olivia, Tyler, Henry, and Grant Walker. 

In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made to Calvary Church.