Ellen J. Petee

Ellen Jean Petee, age 79, was called home to be with her Lord and Savior on November 21, 2025, passing peacefully at her home in Savannah, Georgia, surrounded by the love of her family.

Born on November 7, 1946, in Norwalk, Ohio, Ellen was the daughter of Hobert and Beatrice (Boose) Riggleman. She married the love of her life, Gary Petee, on June 10, 1967, in Norwalk, Ohio, and together they built a home filled with love, laughter, and unwavering support for one another.

Ellen graduated from Mercy School of Nursing in Toledo, Ohio as a Registered Nurse. Her love for nursing began at Flower Hospital in Toledo, Ohio. She and her family moved to Waco, Texas in 1974 and then to Riverdale, Georgia in 1980 where she worked for Clayton General Hospital, and then Visiting Nurse Association in Atlanta, Georgia. In the early 90’s she and Gary moved to Memphis, TN where she eventually left nursing to become a Nurse Investigator for the ombudsman for the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association, or MIFA. With MIFA, her dreams of fighting for the unjust care of the sick and elderly became her passion. She took great pride in ensuring all facilities were caring for all persons equally, with dignity and with grace.

Ellen’s greatest calling was caring for her large family and many lifelong friends. She was the oldest of 8 siblings in the Riggleman family, with 4 brothers and 3 sisters. After the passing of her parents, she took on the role of Matriarch of the Riggleman’s. The person everyone relied on, putting the needs of others before her own without hesitation. Her resilience to life’s adversities handed to her were handled with great faith, strength of spirit and grace. She was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease in her late 50’s, breast cancer in her mid 60’s and then colon cancer in 2024. She was a member of St. Helena Catholic Church in Clayton, GA and lived her faith through compassion, humility, and service.

Ellen found joy in life’s simple, beautiful moments. She loved baking, cooking meals for family and friends and gardening. She had a lifelong joy of reading, playing games with her grandchildren, putting together puzzles and relaxed daily with many varieties of word puzzles. Above all, she treasured time with her family, especially ‘Rawring’ with her great grandson Kyle who loves dinosaurs.

In addition to her parents, Hobert and Beatrice Riggleman; she is preceded in death by her husband Gary, her infant daughter Mary Elizabeth, her brother, Mark Riggleman, her sister, Maribel Brown and her sister Julie Ann Montgomery who passed the day prior to her passing.

She is survived by her children: Mary Anne Strickland and Karen (Wallace) Rowe, and her beloved grandchildren: Cameron (Ashley) Taylor, Megan (David) Fontana, Madison Strickland and her four great grandchildren, Ansley, Gabriel and Caroline Taylor and Kyle Fontana.

Ellen is also survived by her siblings: John (Kathy) Riggleman, Michael (Janet) Riggleman, Robert (Chris) Riggleman and Kathy Kaman.

Per Ellen’s wishes, she will be cremated. There will be no public visitation or service at this time. Her cremains will be laid to rest at a private inurnment mass in Clayton Georgia at a later date. Finally, a celebration of her life will be held at a later date in Ohio for family and friends where memories will be shared, stories told, and her legacy of love honored.

Ellen will be remembered for her generous heart, her steadfast devotion to her family, and the countless ways she made the world better simply by being in it.

In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made by donation to the American Cancer Society or the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.