Obituary of Rev. Elizabeth Masterman Sullivan Ehling

The remarkable life of the Reverend Elizabeth Masterman Sullivan Ehling, 93, a loving mother, wife and an accomplished professional, ended peacefully on Jan. 30, 2020. Her husband, Ernest J. Ehling, Sr., died in 1991. She is survived by her grateful children, Deborah Elizabeth Ehling and Ernest Henry Ehling, Jr., her daughter-in-law Stacey Ehling, her grandsons Derek Henry Ehling Warter, Joshua, Jeremy and Daniel Ehling, her sister-in-law Helen Ehling, nephews Robert, Richard and William Ehling, her cousin Fran Cook Barnes Hayes and her longtime friend, Dr. Laurie Potter. Rev. Ehling mastered work-life balance before it was concept, marrying the love of her life, the late Ernest Henry Ehling, Sr., having two children, and becoming an ordained Presbyterian minister, a pastoral counselor, a licensed marriage and family counselor and a leader in the community. She was committed to giving back, healing, teaching, mentoring and broke a few glass ceilings along the way, as the second woman in the U.S. to be ordained in the Presbyterian Church (1956), and the first in N.J. She would have been ordained a minister in 1950 after graduating from Union Theological Seminary, but it took six years for the men running the church to become enlightened enough to ordain women. She was a founding member and Director for the Center for Creative Living (non-profit counseling & training center) in Allendale/Franklin Lakes, N.J. She led a graduate program and was an adjunct professor at Drew University, and worked as a youth minister for the Church of the Master in Harlem, N.Y.C. in the 1950s. Rev. Ehling graduated from the University of Rochester (1948), holds a Masters in Divinity from Union Theological Seminary, and studied at The William Alanson White Institute and Blanton-Peale Institute. She received numerous awards and held leadership positions in professional organizations over the years. Her passion was her family, hummingbirds and butterflies, hand bell choirs and music, and anything the color blue. She was an active member of the AAUW, and a member of the Colts Neck Reformed Church where she found her spiritual home. A celebration of her life will be held on Monday February 3rd at 11 a.m. at the Colts Neck Reformed Church, 139 Route 537, Colts Neck, N.J. The interment will follow at George Washington Memorial Park, Paramus. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Colts Neck Reformed Church. Higgins Memorial Home, Freehold is in charge of arrangements.