Ellen Marjorie Harten

Dec. 2, 1940 to Nov. 28, 2024

Ellen Marjorie Harten passed away peacefully in her hometown of Pocatello, ID, Thanksgiving Day. She was 83.

She was a talented pianist and music aficionado. As a teen in the '50s, she worked in a Pocatello record store and was an early enthusiast of a new form of music, rock-and-roll. She amassed an extensive record collection that included discs by her favorites, including Chubby Checkers, Fats Domino, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry. She was thrilled by the musical genius and lyricism of the Beatles, but thought Bob Dylan was overwrought and overrated, stating, "He strings a series of disparate words together that are admittedly poetic, but also serve to confuse everyone into thinking he's profound."

Ellen was a voracious reader and enjoyed a range of authors, including Dickens, Hawthorne, Twain, Lawrence, Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, Hemingway and Capote. She was also fascinated by the personal lives of authors, actors, musicians and politicians and was a longtime subscriber to the National Enquirer.

She had a talent for reading palms, which was always a big hit at social gatherings. When life got tedious, she would sometimes threaten to chuck everything, join a gypsy troupe and travel the world plying her trade. Her family often worried that she would make good on this threat, while at the same time never doubting that she would excel at this career path, if she so chose.

Instead, she began her career as an office typist and rose to serve as secretary to two Nevada Governors: Grant Sawyer and Paul Laxalt. She later became a top realtor in Las Vegas, where she worked for many years before retiring to Idaho.

Ellen was a lifelong feminist and strong advocate for women's rights. She spoke out against and was politically active regarding several aspects of the paternalistic culture in which she was raised, a culture in which women were discouraged from attending college, denied access to birth control, and denied the ability to open a checking account, purchase a car, or obtain a mortgage or credit card without the approval of a husband or male relative.

Ellen's roots in Pocatello stretch back over a century. Her parents Kenneth and Lucille Harten were lifelong Pocatellans and active members, supporters and leaders in a range of community organizations and institutions, including Idaho State University, the Bannock Humane Society, the Pocatello Chamber of Commerce, the Pocatello Natural History Museum, and the Lions Club. Kenneth served as an Idaho State Senator in the 1960s and '70s.

Her maternal grandparents, Edwin and Orpha Boyatt, settled in Pocatello in 1904 when the Dixie Carnival Company that they owned and managed, which featured a minstrel show, musicians and a horse that jumped into a pool from a high dive, went bankrupt in Idaho following a successful two-year-long national tour from Florida to Georgia, Texas, California and the Pacific Northwest. Orpha was a teacher, while Edwin was a veteran of the Spanish-American War and a professional baseball player in the 1880s and 1890s for an early precursor to what is now the Cleveland Guardians Major League Baseball team. Edwin helped establish the Pioneer Baseball League and served stints as a manager for Pocatello's minor league Bannocks/Cardinals.

Her paternal grandparents, William and Sarah Harten, arrived in Pocatello from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Prior to emigrating to the U.S., Sarah worked in difficult conditions in an Irish linen mill, while William was a ship's carpenter for Harland & Wolff, where he worked installing the intricate wood and gold-plated interior finishes on the Titanic.

Ellen was close to both her grandparents, particularly her beloved grandmother Sarah, who lived next door during Ellen's youth and teenage years.

Ellen was preceded in death by her parents, Kenneth and Lucille, as well as her sister Jean (Harten) Hardman and brother Jim Harten.

She is survived by her brother Don Harten, Las Vegas, and sisters Ruth Harten, Pocatello; and Dorothy (Harten) Hull, Elko, NV, as well as her sons Kirk Collins, Hailey, ID; Craig Collins, San Diego; Carl Hocker, Pocatello; and daughter Camille Collins, Las Vegas, as well as her six grandchildren: Christopher, Makayla, Ellie, Kaitlyn, Kiah and Kayla.

A memorial and celebration of life will be held in Pocatello at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Ellen's name may be made to the Bannock Humane Society. https://www.bannockhumanesociety.org 

Memories and condolences may be shared by visiting the Guestbook below.

Photos: Ellen with son Carl Hocker, 1971. Photos below, from left: 1) Ellen reading a telegram from U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk stating that her brother, B-52 pilot Lt. Don Harten, USAF, had been located and rescued from the South China Sea after a midair collision between two B-52s at 30,000 feet. The photo and an accompanying article appeared in the Reno Gazette, June 19, 1965. 2) Ellen and her big brother Don, 1944. 3) Drinking Consultants. Ellen with her grandson Christopher Collins in front of a pub in Tralee, Ireland.