George Archibald, ICF Co-founder writes on February 10, 2009:

Following  a year of combat with cancer, a friend of nature and of many people, Ellie Schiller, peacefully passed away at her beautiful home in the pine savannah of Florida. The daughter of Phil and Ethyl Felburn, Ellie helped her father manage their trucking company.   Assets from the company and her father’s estate along with personal resources were placed in the Felburn Foundation whose motto is “Preserving Nature.” Through the Foundation, Ellie helped cranes and their habitats, snow leopards, manatees and created parks for disabled children.

Ellie joined the Board of ICF in 2002 and the Felburn Foundation became a major supporter. Ellie travelled with ICF staff to experience the cranes in the wild in China, Japan and Bhutan. Her  favorite experience with cranes was at Poyang Lake, China. On a cold, misty morning she was sitting alone on a large boulder waiting for me when suddenly a flock of Siberian Cranes appeared from the fog low overhead. Their calls were soft and musical. Then as quickly as they appeared, they vanished.

Gifts from the Felburn Foundation supported the following ICF projects: studies of Sarus Cranes in India; the conservation of the White-bellied Herons in Bhutan; operational needs of Muraviovka Park, Russia and of ICF headquarters; the Felburn Wing of the Chick Isolation-rearing Facility at ICF; the Felburn Rooms of the Donnelley Family Education Center; renovations of Crane City, our on-site breeding facility; studies of Siberian Cranes at Poyang Lake; and the reintroduction of Whooping Cranes into the eastern US.

Ellie was a lady with great zest, warmth, integrity and kindness. She will be greatly missed but long remembered. 

George Archibald

Photo Caption: Ellie, Canjue Drolma  and the Potala in Lhasa Tibet.  Once Ellie taught English to Tibetan refugees in India.  She lived for seven months immersed in Tibetan culture and developed a great interest and respect for Tibetans and Buddhism.