Ellen Steele Brightwell, 81, of Valdosta passed away Monday, October 26, 2026, at South Georgia Medical Center in Valdosta. A graveside funeral service will be held at 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 28, 2026, at Oak Ridge Cemetery, where she will be laid to rest. The Rev. Chip Grantham will officiate.
Born April 2, 1945, she was the daughter of the late Mary Little Steele Brightwell and Dr. William Thomas “Tom” Brightwell. Her grandparents were the late Ellen Dewes Armistead and George Spencer Steele, Sr. and the late Myrtle Elizabeth Crawford and Walter Greer Brightwell.
Miss Brightwell earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and a Master of Arts degree in advertising and marketing from the University of Georgia.
She was employed as a section editor and reporter at various newspapers including the News-Examiner and Daily Tifton Gazette in Tifton and Enquirer Journal in Monroe, North Carolina. She was a speech writer and news writer for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture in Raleigh, North Carolina and a writer and media relations consultant for the Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.
Miss Brightwell received the Superior Service Award from the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, annual Member Award from the Kentucky Association of Agricultural Communicators, and Certificate of Recognition from the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture. She was a member of Epsilon Sigma Phi National Honorary Extension Fraternity, Ceres Fraternity in Lexington, Kentucky, and the President’s Club at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) in Tifton.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to your favorite charity.