Eleanor “Ellie” Walsh, a longtime supporter of the local arts scene, died Thursday at age 83.

“She was the most beautiful mother in the world, somebody who was very vibrant and who loved children,” said her daughter Barbara E. Walsh, of Syracuse.

Her death comes a little more than a year after her son, Thommie, the Tony-award winning Broadway star, passed away.

Local residents may also connect her with Jitch's hot dog stand at Owasco Lake or Walsh's Tavern at Five Points, which she and her husband, Thomas “Jitch” Walsh, ran.

“In many ways her passing away was the end of an era,” said Ed Sayles, president of Merry-Go-Round Playhouse Inc., referring to her connection with the Deauville days and the landmark hot dog stand at Emerson Park. “That's a lot of history.”

Barbara said her mother was very involved in the theater and at the Merry-Go-Round, where she once served on the board of directors.

“She always encouraged every Auburn kid to follow his dream,” she said, noting the example of Todd Lattimore.

In fact, Ellie wrote a letter in 2005 to The Citizen praising local children's productions. She wrote about a performance she saw at Herman Avenue Elementary School.

“I was astonished and stunned by the structure and the design of this show,” she wrote. “What (the teachers) were able to draw out of these children was amazing. There was a responsibility for every child, speaking and non-speaking. These children painted the sets, made musical instruments and performed with precision, pride and care.”

Barbara remembers lavish fashion shows that her mother produced for charitable causes, especially the March of Dimes, where she had worked in the past.

“She was born too early,” she said, accenting her mother's creativity and forward-looking fashion productions.

Ellie had a hundred models that she took to various well-known places and buildings in the Auburn area with a photographer to produce a slide show. The models came down the March of Dimes runways wearing the same outfit as they had in the picture in the background.

“She did it big,” Barbara said. “She was a very big fashion person who always wanted to live in New York City.”

She had graduated from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh as a fashion design major.

“It is such a loss,” Sayles said. “I find it hard to think of a person more supportive of me or more upbeat that could make me feel better than Ellie Walsh. She treated me like family from the minute I came here.”

Sayles remembers Ellie calling him just to encourage him.

“'I think you're doing a good job, honey,' Ellie would say. That would make me feel great,” Sayles said. “She called up just to say something good - that's rare.”

Ellie, 83, never stopped loving life and having fun.

“She never hung with her own age group,” Barbara said, “always with people my age, in their 50s and 60s. She was very easy, very spontaneous.”

Barbara said her brother Thommie's death had a profound impact on Ellie.

“I'm totally devastated,” she said. “I've lost the most precious jewels I have in the family.”

Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311, ext.238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net