Barbara Ellsworth

Barbara Lee (Timmen) Ellsworth, 71, slipped out of this world peacefully on January 24, 2026, surrounded by love. She was born in Ilwaco on July 21, 1954 to the legendary Lee and Josephine (Fischer) Timmen. The fourth out of six siblings, her childhood was spent in Chinook, growing up in the house that her dad built. Barbara attended Chinook School through 6th grade, spending her days with friends, family, and working at Wilson’s cannery when she was older. She graduated from Ilwaco High School in 1972 and attended Clark College in Vancouver, graduating with honors in 1974. 

Barbara lived in Beaverton, Oregon for a few years, working in accounts payable at Georgia Pacific and Tektronix and dating her classmate Dean Ellsworth, whom she married in 1981. (They later divorced.) They resided in Ocean Park, with Barbara working at Jessie’s Ilwaco Fish as an accounting clerk. In 1984, Barbara and Dean returned to her hometown, buying the house she grew up in from her parents. Here, their children Dena and Adam were raised. Barbara loved her hometown and worked to make it the best it could be. She spent countless hours at Chinook Lutheran Church, teaching Sunday and Vacation Bible School, as well as working in the after school program. She helped replace the old ditches in Chinook into beautiful new sidewalks, and was vital in raising money every year to put on the annual Halloween party at the Chinook fire hall. 

Barbara earned an AA degree from Clatsop Community College in 1990 and graduated from Linfield College in 2004. When her kids were little, Barbara ran a home day care, taking care of several children from Chinook. A number of them still kept in touch with her years later. She was also very active when Adam and Dena attended Ilwaco High School, chaperoning pep band trips to the state basketball tournament as well as concert band trips. She was the true definition of a “band mom”. Barbara was employed as a paraeducator for Ocean Beach School District for 12 years, working at Long Beach, Hilltop, and IHS. She also volunteered at Long Beach and Ocean Park schools. In 2006 Barbara decided to try something new and moved inland. She lived in Olympia and then Sumner, working for Bright Horizons as an infant and childcare teacher. Barbara returned to the peninsula in 2020, residing at Surf Pines Apartments in Ilwaco. Her days were filled with crocheting, reading, going to knitting group (“Stitch and Complain”, as she liked to call it), enjoying chair yoga at the Peninsula senior center, planting flowers on her balcony, having lunch with her friends, and spending quality time with her family. 

Barbara loved visiting central Oregon in the summer, spending time at her timeshare in Eagle Crest and enjoying family reunions in Sunriver. She was an avid sports fan and enjoyed watching the Seahawks and Trail Blazers. Barbara loved attending her grandchildren’s sporting events, concerts, and birthday parties. She was very talented at crochet and loved making blankets for her newborn family and friends. At her death, she was working on a scarf for her great niece, as well as a temperature blanket, where she noted the weather each day for a year. Luckily, she taught her granddaughter Kylie how to crochet, so her gift will continue on.

Barbara is survived by her children, Dena (Ellsworth) Kleffner (Dan) and Adam Ellsworth (Shveta), granddaughters Kylie Kleffner and Maya Ellsworth, grandsons Jason Kleffner, Kayden Kleffner, and Neil Ellsworth, siblings Terrie Joplin (Jerry), Janine Meyers, Malinda Wheeler (Lyle), Jeff Timmen (Penny) and Rebecca Timmen, as well as many nieces, nephews, and cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents, Jo in 1994 and Lee Jr. in 2015, as well as several other extended family members. 

A celebration of Barbara’s life will be at 2pm on Saturday, April 25th at The Historic Chinook School Event Center (810 US 101, Chinook, WA). All of Barbara’s family and friends are invited to attend. A private inurnment will take place at Ilwaco Cemetery at a later date. 

To honor her love of animals, donations in her memory may be made to Peninsula Wild Care, 30615 Stackpole Lane, Ocean Park, WA 98640, or to South Pacific County Humane Society, PO Box 101, Long Beach, WA 98631.