Ellen McBain Hubbe

Ellen McBain Hubbe was born on March 21, 1928, in Forest Grove, Oregon, to Anna Hansen and John McBain.  She died on October 2, 2025, at the age of 97.  

Her parents were both immigrants to this country: her father a master gardener from Scotland and her mother a nurse from Denmark.  The family moved frequently, but most of Ellen’s school years were in Brooklyn, New York, where she received an outstanding public education and she graduated from Brooklyn College.  Ellen loved growing up in culturally diverse Brooklyn among other children of immigrants. At the Dutch Reform Church where she sang in the choir, she met her sweetheart, Gery Hubbe, whose singing voice first caught her attention.  Ellen and Gery married in 1953, and began family life in Oakridge, Oregon, where Gery worked for the Forest Service.  They lived on ranger stations until moving to Eugene in 1960, where they raised their four children, John, Sara, Lise, and Cameron.  

Even before moving to Eugene, Ellen and Gery began attending Eugene Friends Meeting. Moving to town, they joined the Meeting, and over the next 50+ years Ellen and Gery helped to build this community with other families, nurtured the children’s religious education, and served for many years in multiple leadership roles in the local and regional Quaker network.  Ellen was instrumental in bringing the Quaker Tapestry (Quaker history in needlework panels) to local and regional Meetings.  Ellen had a lifelong interest in interfaith connections.  After Martin Luther King Junior’s assassination in 1968, she organized members of the Friends Meeting to attend services at St. Mark CME church in west Eugene, out of concern for their grief.

Ellen was community-minded and a natural organizer.  When her youngest was in elementary school, Ellen created a job for herself as a Community School Coordinator, where she connected children and parents with the broader community. She had a natural way with parents and founded a parent co-op pre-school which continued for many years.  

Ellen and Gery traveled to Scotland, England, Denmark, and Germany, forging deep family connections that they maintained all their lives. As an only child of immigrant parents, Ellen treasured her relationships with cousins overseas.

In Eugene, Ellen and Gery found many ways to make community in addition to their involvement in Friends Meeting.  Ellen was a fabulous dancer, and she and Gery had great fun dancing with the Heather and Rose Scottish and English Country Dance group. 

In the year 2000 Ellen and Gery partnered with daughter Lise on a farm near Scio, east of Albany. Sadly, Gery died in 2001. Sometime later, Ellen moved to Sweetwell Farm for six years.  The farm became “family central” for holidays and celebrations.

Into her 90s, Ellen continued her very active life in the Friends Meeting, where she served on committees, met in the Women’s Group, and attended Quarterly and Annual sessions. Her wisdom and experience were sought after, and she mentored generations of Quakers.

After she moved to assisted living, Friends frequently visited Ellen to sing together, hold worshipful silence, and continue to share our lives with each other. The breadth of her interests and enthusiasm for everything from politics to birds and flowers, her love of people, especially children, and her magnetic, attractive spirit made her loved wherever she went till the end of life.

A Memorial Meeting for Worship was held for Ellen on November 22, 2025, at Eugene Friends Meeting with over a hundred Friends/friends and family members attending in person, and over 40 attending on Zoom. It was an outpouring of love and appreciation for a life well lived.