Ellen Ann Kubay Adkins

Ellen Ann Kubay Adkins 

December 11, 1947 – October 6, 2025

With deep sadness, the family of Ellen Ann Kubay Adkins announces her passing on October 6, 2025, at Hospice of Dayton. She was 77 years young.

Ellen was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, on December 11, 1947, into a military family. The third child of Stephen and Marie (Antoinette Bertolozzi) Kubay, she spent her childhood in New York City, Newfoundland, and England. The family’s final military assignments brought them to Wright-Patterson and Minot Air Force Bases, before settling in Fairborn, Ohio—where she would eventually meet and marry the love of her life, Ven.

Neither Ellen nor Ven attended college following high school. Instead, they got jobs, got married and later enrolled in night classes together at Wright State University. They earned their undergraduate degrees and Ellen continued her education at The Ohio State University, graduating cum laude with a Master’s Degree in Social Work.

Over the next four decades, Ellen dedicated her life to her profession as a psychological social worker and psychotherapist, running her own private practice and honing her interpersonal skills for more than 40 years. She had a deep passion for communication and heart-centered connection—both with herself and others—and sought to share that understanding with those she loved. She loved her work in helping others and continued providing psychotherapy and counseling until halted by her recent illness.

Ellen was an artist at heart, though never calling herself one. Her creativity was evident in the way she wrapped gifts—so beautifully that you almost didn’t want to open them—and in her unique sense of style, with a wardrobe that spanned decades. Each Valentine’s Day, she would sit for hours crafting handmade cards with scissors and paste—one-of-a-kind creations that her friends and loved ones cherished.

Ellen loved to travel. After being grounded in Ohio by Ven, her wandering spirit would take her back to England, as well as trips to Wales, Paris, central Italy and the Cinque Terre, Brazil, the Galápagos Islands and Machu Picchu, Hawaii, Antigua, Grand Cayman—and, most memorably, a safari last year in Tanzania, where she developed a deep affection for wildebeests and the Tanzanian people.

She was always on a spiritual quest. Ellen found joy in meditating, writing and journaling, gardening, snorkeling, downhill skiing, walking and hiking—and especially spending time on her pontoon boat, that she named Hansi (Sanskrit for “inner smile”).

In recent years, Ellen was deeply troubled by the growing political divide in the country and the threats she saw to democracy. She was grieved by what she perceived as a widespread willingness to ignore moral failings and criminality among those in power.

She will be dearly missed by those who were fortunate enough to know and work with her.

Ellen is survived by her devoted husband of 58 years, Ven Adkins, and her cousin, Angelo (Jay) Bertolozzi Jr. She was preceded in death by her parents, Stephen and Marie Kubay, her sisters, Stephanie and Carolyn, and six dearly beloved felines, Blackjack, Jesse, Jackson, Princess Amelia Ginger Muffin Buttercup, Natasha Darling and Kamu.

A Celebration of Life will be held in the spring of 2026. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Ellen’s honor to Hospice of Dayton.