Ellen Ash Peters passed away peacefully at her home in West Hartford, Connecticut on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, after a long illness.

Ellen Asch was born at home in Berlin, Germany on March 21, 1930, the daughter of Ernst Eduard Asch, an attorney in general practice, and Hilde Simon, a talented amateur violinist. Ellen often described a happy early childhood with her parents and older sister Renate, including many occasions when Hilde and fellow musicians filled their home with music. Ellen also often mentioned weekends spent walking through Berlin’s parks with her grandparents, and annual skiing trips to Davos, Switzerland every late spring.

Ellen’s life changed abruptly and permanently when, in August 1938, Ernst and Hilde were detained overnight by the Berlin police. While Hilde’s family had converted from Judaism to Protestantism two generations earlier, Ernst was incontestably Jewish. A phone call by Ernst to an associate secured their release, but the die was cast. Within two weeks, the family was set to relocate to Amsterdam. Ellen recalled a grim scene at the Berlin airport, where the German immigration officer invalidated her passport and said to her, “Du bist jetzt staatenlos” (“You are now stateless”). Even as an 8-year-old, Ellen understood the malice and threat in the statement. Nonetheless, Ellen believes the arrest might have saved all their lives, as it motivated her parents to escape Germany only weeks before Kristallnacht in early November.

Ellen lived from September 1938 to December 1939 in Amsterdam, and made a best friend, Dorothee Miloslawski, whom Ellen fondly remembered her entire life. To Ellen’s lifelong sadness, Dorothee and her family were relocated to, and perished in, the Theresienstadt detention center following the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in the spring of 1940.

In December 1939, Hilde, 17-year-old Renate and 9-year-old Ellen traveled by passenger ship to New York. Ernst, barely escaping the arrival of the Germans in Holland in May 1940, reunited with the family in July.

Ellen was an early, avid, lifelong reader and a gifted and motivated student. She attended Hunter College Grade School and Hunter High School in Manhattan. Upon graduating high school in 1947, Ellen attended Swarthmore College, then Yale Law School, graduating cum laude in 1954. At Swarthmore, Ellen met Robert Peters, and in June of 1951, they married. Three children arrived: David, in August 1957, James, in September 1960, and Julie, in June 1965. Robert and Ellen divorced in 1976.

In 1979, Ellen married Phillip I. Blumberg, dean of University of Connecticut School of Law, whom she met on a blind date at Governor Ella Grasso's Inaugural Ball. His four children expanded her family, and they had a long, loving relationship of over 40 years and traveled widely. Phillip passed away at the age of 101 in 2021.

Ellen Ash Peters’ professional achievements are too numerous to mention here fully.  In brief, she was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Connecticut, the first woman to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, and the first woman to become a tenured professor at Yale Law School. Ellen graduated from Yale Law School in 1954, and, after clerking for Chief Judge Charles E. Clark of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, returned to the Law School at the age of 26 as the first woman appointed to the faculty. Ellen, a scholar of contracts and commercial law, taught at Yale Law School from 1956 until her appointment to the Connecticut Supreme Court in 1978. After serving as Associate Justice on the Connecticut Supreme Court for six years, she became the first female Chief Justice in 1984. Ellen authored many important state constitutional decisions during her time on the court, including the notable case Sheff v. O’Neill, which held that Connecticut’s schoolchildren had a right under the state’s constitution to substantially equal educational opportunities. After she ceded her position as Chief Justice in 1996 and took senior status, Ellen served as a Judge Trial Referee at the Appellate Court in Hartford from 2000 to 2014 and was a Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut Law School.

One of the great joys of Ellen’s years on the bench was the opportunity to work with younger lawyers serving as her law clerks. Over the years, many have shared how much the experience of being mentored by Ellen meant to them.

Ellen is survived by her three children, David (Judith), James (Jean), Julie (Tom), and four stepchildren:  William (Deborah), Peter (Daphne), Lisa, and Bruce (Jane); her nieces Renate (Bill) and Margaret (Charles); nine grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren.

Deeply heartfelt appreciation is extended by Ellen’s family to Mrs. Mary Danso for her loving care and support of both Ellen and Phillip in the final years of their lives.

In lieu of flowers, those who wish to make a gift in Ellen’s memory are encouraged to do so via the “EHRE Fund” at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, 10 Columbus Blvd, 8th Floor, Hartford, CT 06106.

All funeral services will be privately held.

Memorial services honoring Ellen’s life will be scheduled at a future date. Online condolences may be made at www.SheehanHilbornBreen.com.