Ellen Blunden – born April 7, 1942 – died December 30, 2025, Canberra

One of Canberra’s most influential performing arts identities has died at Canberra Hospital through the Voluntary Assisted Dying procedure, following a battle with blood cancer.

Blunden was production manager for Canberra Opera from 1976 to 1982, overseeing the spectacular Canberra Opera production of Aida in 1981 at the 4000-seat Bruce Stadium.

She later became better known as director of the Canberra Festival, a role she held for 10 years. She also oversaw the development of the Australian Science Festival, work that earned her the 1993 ACT Tourism Outstanding Contribution by an Individual Award.

Known by friends as a passionate believer in compassion and humanity, Blunden held strong views on equality, refusing private health insurance on the grounds that all should be treated equally. Like her mother and brother, she was an ardent Labor Party supporter. A prodigious opera-goer, she developed a particular interest in Richard Wagner, choosing a Wagner aria as her way of saying goodbye.

Growing up in Brighton, Melbourne, she enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Melbourne in 1959 on a teaching scholarship but discontinued after illness. From 1960 to 1964 she worked with the Union Theatre Repertory Company (now the Melbourne Theatre Company), managing the box office and later preparing weekly financial summaries and paying actors.

She appeared in Aristophanes’ Thesmophoriazusae at the University of Melbourne in June 1962.

After a personal crisis, Ellen travelled to the Northern Territory, arriving in Alice Springs in May 1963. She accepted a position as governess at Milton Park Station, where she worked happily for about two years instructing the station owner’s children. By the end of 1966 she was in London, working as a receptionist before landing a job as program co-ordinator on the ship Ellinis, developing a lifelong love of all things Greek.

In October 1967 she travelled to Cornwall to attend the wedding of her brother Geoffrey to Camilla Gregory, later to become a Canberra actor and director.

Missing her mother Iris, she returned to Australia, worked for Chandris Lines in Melbourne, and later travelled to Nouméa to join Greek captain Matheos, whom she had met aboard the Ellinis. Different citizenship needs led to a cordial separation and lifelong friendship.

Blunden later worked on Capricorn Estates’ Brahman stud between Yass and Canberra. In 1976, she travelled 1500 kilometres to Rockhampton with her friend Carol Summerhayes to sell off the stock. By the late 1970s her management skills had shifted fully to events and the arts.

During Canberra’s famous Aida in 1981, she was living near Bruce Stadium, so the obligatory elephant was lodged in her backyard.

She later lived in the heritage-listed farmhouse of the former Wells Station, now surrounded by Harrison in Gungahlin, fostering orphaned joeys in hessian pouches on the verandah.

In 1994 she became general manager of the Sydney Festival, later moving to the Royal Agricultural Society as general manager of Marketing and Events, where she was praised for record attendance in her final year. In the early 2000s she held consultancy and administrative roles at the University of Technology Sydney.

On a trip to the UK around 2006, she had met former Rolls-Royce engineer and fellow birdwatcher Tim Heath. Their relationship lasted 20 years, meeting several times a year and emailing daily. Heath died in November 2024.

Blunden returned to Canberra in 2018, moving to Goodwin Retirement Village in Ainslie, where she played bridge and joined resident groups.

A lifelong dog lover, she had a particular fondness for Australian terriers and later Jack Russells. including Shelley, who loved riding on the motorbike, and her pups Bonney, Penny and Rupert. Later in life she adopted an elderly Jack Russell, Rocky, followed by another Jack Russell, known by some family members as Shelley Mark II and now adopted by Blunden’s close friend and dog aficionado, Richard Summerrell.

A clinical trial enabled her to travel extensively in later years, including cruising from Alaska to Japan. After COVID-19 in 2025, her health declined and her cancer could no longer be held at bay.

She is survived by her niece Hazel and partner Maria, nephew Damian and partner Kirstie, their children Brodie and Jasmine, Tim Heath’s family, and her many friends.

A memorial event will be held in the Activity Room, Goodwin Retirement Village Ainslie, 11.30am-1pm, February 7. All welcome.

Prepared with the assistance of Hazel Blunden, Cathy Winters, and Richard Summerrell