Ellen Byrne Goen Mulroney

Ellen was born July 6th, 1932. First daughter of Dr. Donald Joseph Goen and Evelyn Mary (Byrne) Goen of Manchester, IA.

She received her BA in Theater Arts in 1954 at the University of Iowa. She then spent a year at the Cleveland Playhouse in Ohio. From 1955 to 1959, Ellen lived in New York City where she worked in television production as the Assistant to the Producer of the US Steel Hour an early live weekly drama.

In 1959, Ellen married fellow Iowan and Harvard Law School Graduate, Michael Mulroney. The couple moved to Washington, DC where they raised a family of five children in Alexandria, Virginia.

In 1978, Ellen returned to her love of acting and in the ensuing 40 years, performed dozens of roles in theaters in Virginia, Philadelphia and Cape Cod.

In 2013, the couple retired to their longtime family home in Orleans, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Since that time, Ellen has been active in ministries of St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church and volunteered on the Art Committee at Snow Library while supporting local artists and theater companies. For years, Ellen was a faithful driver for FISH.

Ellen is survived by sister Sarah Goen Barrett and her husband Dan; sister-in-law Jeanne Goen; her children, Sean, Conor, Dermot, Kieran and Moira; her nine grandchildren; her great granddaughter and several nieces and nephews.She was preceded in death by her husband Michael, sister Mary Goen Wilson and brother John Goen.

Family and friends are respectfully invited to attend visiting hours Friday, October 11, 2024 from 4:00 – 6:00 PM at the Nickerson Funeral Home 77 Eldredge Park Way, Orleans, MA. A funeral mass to celebrate Ellen’s life will be celebrated Saturday at 11:00 AM at Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Church, 61 Canal Rd, Orleans, MA 02653 followed by a burial at Orleans Cemetery. In Ellen’s memory, donations may be made to the Cape Cod Repertory Theater Company at caperep.org .