New Berlin Woman Honors Sister's Legacy Through Advocacy

NEW BERLIN, WI—A New Berlin woman honors the legacy of her sister by advocating for organ donation and flu vaccines and providing support for children in the hospital.

Carine Ellis' father, Herb Ellis, 79, and sister, Alina Ellis, 38, shared the same birthday, June 8. The father and daughter were close and couldn't stand to be apart. And they both died on March 2, 2017, from two different strains of influenza.

Carine's father also had cancer and other health issues that weakened his immune system. "The fact that influenza was too much for his body wasn't a dramatic surprise, medically," Carine Ellis said.

Alina Ellis' death shocked family and friends as she was a 38-year-old business owner who didn't appear to have any medical issues.

Carine Ellis now makes it her mission to encourage people to get flu vaccines when offered. Both Alina and Carine would receive their vaccine when it was convenient for them. Herb Ellis got a flu vaccine, but because of his weakened system, it wasn't enough to save him from the flu virus. But Alina didn't get her vaccine the year she died.

"In hindsight, it was absolutely foolish, and it might have saved her," Carine told Patch.

The pandemic and Carine's experience have made her hypersensitive about the illness. She said she watches friends dealing with the coronavirus and the death of their loved ones. "It's heartbreaking," she said.

While the flu and the coronavirus are not the same, Carine said she wants to make sure her sister and dad's loss doesn't happen to anyone else.

Carine also wants people to know that her loved ones' lives are about more than how they died.

Owls for Owies

The close-knit family shared a love of education. Herb Ellis taught English at Hartford Union High School for 30 years and coached the forensics team. He was married to Maxine, who also was a teacher. After retirement, Herb joined Lakeland College as an adjunct professor for a few years.

Herb loved all things literary and was often known as “Mr. Shakespeare.”

Alina had a deep passion for children and wildlife. Alina graduated from Slinger High School in 1996 and attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, majoring in social work.

In 2013, she opened an in-home child care business in West Bend called the Hoot House. She taught children about nature, exploring, animals, creativity, love and compassion.

Herb loved to spend time with his daughters and grandchildren camping, exploring, laughing and playing. He considered himself “Hoot Grandpa” for Alina’s Hoot House, his obituary said.

Herb would use his acting skills to become characters such as a leprechaun or groundhog running from his shadow for the children at the child care center.

Carine recalled that her sister made lesson plans for the children, no matter what age they were. "She taught kids how to explore the world," she said.

Alina began Owls for Owies, a nonprofit organization, to deliver stuffed toy owls to children at a local hospital.

"Alina was a modern-day Mary Poppins whose creative mind and generous spirit nurtured children's imaginations and encouraged care for others," the organization's website said. "She believed puddles were meant for splashing, woods were meant for exploring, and kindness was meant for all. Alina originated Owls for Owies as a part of her childcare business, the Hoot House."

Carine remains a member of the board of the organization. On her father and sister's birthday, she asks people to do an act of kindness through Owls for Owies.

"That is who my dad was and our whole family," she said. She also promotes organ donation, especially in April, organ donation awareness month.

"Final act of kindness"

Alina was always a compassionate person and believed in helping others. She designated that her organs to be donated in the event of her death. "Because she signed her license, it was all set, and we didn't have to make any decisions," Carine said.

Alina's kidneys and her heart were donated. Her heart was given to a dying Brookfield father of two. Carine described the heart donation as one final act of kindness and light in a time of darkness.

Carine was going through her own struggles at the time.

"During this whole ordeal, that was the one thing that made us smile," she said of her sister's organ donations. "It was something good that was happening at this moment."

The heart recipient sent an anonymous thank you letter to the Ellis family through the organ donation organization a year after the transplant. "All we were told at the time was it was a man in southeast Wisconsin who liked to be outdoors," Carine said.

The family found out he had two children and had just taught them how to ride a bike. Carine had just spent that day teaching her own kids the same thing.

News about Alina's and Herb's deaths on the same day got local news coverage, and it didn't take long for the recipient, Greg Bucholc, to figure out where his new heart came from. His family asked if Alina could be his donor.

Another clue: Bucholc was put on medicine to fight influenza even though he didn't have it.

He messaged Carine and casually mentioned he had a donation for Owls for Owies. He offered to drop it off to her at a local Walgreens parking lot. It was only then that Bucholc told Carine that he saw her family's story on the news and had recently had a heart transplant.

"We hugged, and I listened to his heart. I was in complete shock. It was the coolest thing ever," Carine said.

Bucholc told Patch he was always supportive of organ donation, even before he became ill. His father had his corneas donated. "I'm one of those people who would just do it," he said.

He tells others he is "living proof" to encourage organ donation. Bucholc said he had vanity plates made with the message, "HRT886 Donate Life." It represents the number of his heart transplant.

The Bucholc and Ellis family have since become great friends. "I look at his kids and think their dad might not be here today without Alina's gift," Carine said.