Elvira "Ellie" Bourgon

Elvira “Ellie” Bourgon September 2, 1944 to February, 3, 2015 Elvira was born in Kunto, Poland in the midst of World War II. Her mother managed to bring her to the United States, after surviving refugee camps to arrive at Ellis Island, New York. They eventually settled in Syracuse, New York. While in high school, she met the love of her life, Marcel Bourgon. They married while Elvira was in college before Marcel deployed to Vietnam. After his return they had two amazing children. In 1978 Syracuse was having one of the worst winters on record, so they bought a station wagon to search for warmer climate. They came through El Paso, and saw a man sitting on the hood of his car, in shorts, drinking ice tea in November. They moved to El Paso with the children and Ellie’s mother in 1979. Ellie immediately began teaching for the El Paso School District, mostly at L.B. Johnson Elementary; she had a passion for teaching. She taught children to love reading, she taught teachers how to teach, and that passion pored into others. Ellie and Marcel also supported the community by generously furnishing children in need with school supplies, socks, shoes, and jackets. She and her husband traveled the U.S. and world-U.S. National Parks, Alaska, Europe, China, and Australia-while Ellie journaled all the way, much to the delight of her friends. Staying extremely active after retirement, one of her legacies was teacher her three year old granddaughter, Tatiana, to read in thirteen days. In that time, Ellie instilled in her a life-long love of reading. Ellie is survived by her husband of forty-eight years, Marcel; her mother, Olga Czerepin, her son Michael (Jennifer) of Fort Worth, her daughter Krista Abele (Jeff) of Broadlands, VA; granddaughter Tatiana; sisters Valentina Klaisle (Gerard) of Chicago, IL, Helen Ritter (Kevin) of Boynton Beach, FL, as well as many nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her sister Lydia Sauer. She leaves behind many adoring friends who remember her for her dynamic creativity, unending loyalty, energy and encouragement. A Funeral Service will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, February 28, 2015 at the Bourgon family home. Services entrusted to Sunset Funeral Home-West. Please visit our online register book at www.sunsetfuneralhomes.net