Just Two Girls From Hebron

Honoring Our Parents. One Story at a Time.

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Hi! We’re the Ely girls, or we used to be known as the Ely girls, and likely around Hebron still are! Now our surnames are Milliman and Filliatreault.

We were born and raised in a farmhouse on County Route 30 in Hebron, Washington County, NY. We were the fourth generation to live in that home. Built in 1890, it was sold out of the family in 2006. A lot of stories resonate from that home and afterward. We’re here to share the legacy that is our parents, but along the way, you may learn a bit about all those other generations and all the descendants of those people. Woven in. The Family, but for now, we’re here to honor the memory of our parents, Florence Sarah Pelletier Ely (b. July 28, 1946, d. October 2, 2025) and Leonard Roscoe Ely (b. October 15, 1945, d. May 11, 1993).

I’m Christina Ely Milliman, the youngest of the two (on the left). As a child and teen, I was a musician. I played several instruments. Flute, piccolo, and piano are the main ones. In that home in Hebron and at school in Hartford, I played and practiced those instruments 10-30 hours a week. At age 17, I laid them down. For 30 years! Just a couple of weeks ago, upon my Mother’s death, I picked up my flute and played Amazing Grace. A few days later, I unearthed and literally dusted off my black lacquer Yamaha piano. Today, I am a potter and teacher. I own azure arts pottery studio in Richfield Springs, NY, just north of Cooperstown.

Eulogy for Mom and Dad: The Gift of Music

Written by Christina Ely Milliman, in memory of Florence Sarah Pelletier Ely and Leonard Roscoe Ely

Published on Facebook, October 11, 2025

I always thought it was my father who connected me to music. I now realize it was Mom, too. Like me, she always had music playing in the background. From the time she got up in the morning to the time she turned on the TV for her shows at night. One of the best gifts Brian and I shared with her was her Alexa device. (And know Mom would get quite frustrated when “she” did not play the right thing!) We both loved the coffeehouse on Sirius XM the most—our daily go-to.

What is funny is that my mother, though in her 60s and 70s, loved pop music. She loved Lady Gaga, Pink, Kelly Clarkson, Adele, Carrie Underwood, and so many other pop stars, whom I don’t even know who they are, because she was more up on pop culture than I was. She’d often say, “Did you see what Lady Gaga wore at (xyz)?” “Did you hear what (fill in the blank) did at (xyz) award show?” My response was often: “No,” “Who is that?” “There was an award show?” She would stare at me like there was something wrong with me, or say, “look it up on Google,” or maybe roll her eyes at me for being so uninformed. (All with pure love, mind you. And a smile on her face.)

I wonder (if like me), if music wasn’t playing from a speaker, if there was a song running through her head instead. What were those songs? I wish I knew just one of them, if so.

This is the song I believe she sent me as I turned at the light at the intersection of Route 20 and 28 in Richfield on Wednesday night. As I was crying on my way home to a place she is not, she gave me this.

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