Ellen Witko grew up in Babylon, Long Island, NY. and joined Sayville Congregational United Church of Christ in 1988. Ellen was an active lay leader at Sayville until the family moved to Jamesport, NY in 1999. There Ellen worked at the First Presbyterian Church in Southold, NY as Christian Education Director. She completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts/Cultural Studies in the fall of 2000 from SUNY Empire State College, and was accepted into the Master of Divinity program at the Theological School at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. In order to limit commute time during Ellen’s studies, the Witko family moved to Chatham during the summer of 2001. On May 15, 2004, Ellen received her Master of Divinity degree magna cum laude. The Drew faculty awarded her the George R. Crooks Prize for excellence in hymn and scripture reading and the Dorr Diefendorf Award for excellence in homiletics.
The Witkos continue to live in Chatham. Ellen is an avid Yankees fan who also enjoys football, movies, books and music. Ron is an independent sales representative working in the television and video production industry, and enjoys boating and working on home improvement projects. They have three children; Kristine is a student at LaSalle University in Philadelphia. Dan is at Chatham High School and likes to skateboard. Kevin, a student at Chatham Middle School, likes movies, video games, swimming and boating with his dad. The family spends as much time as possible on the eastern shore of Maryland where they have a second home in Queenstown, on the Wye River.