Dawn Neal-Ellsworth, a longtime Woodstock Rescue Squad volunteer who rose to captain and kept responding to emergencies while battling cancer, died Wednesday, July 1, at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. She was 51.

Neal-Ellsworth was captain of Woodstock Fire Department Company 5, better known as the Woodstock Rescue Squad, where she had served for more than 20 years, said Jim Crowley, the squad’s chief driver and a past president.

“It’s a great loss for all of us,” said Ted Weidenbacher, president of Company 5.

Crowley said Neal-Ellsworth continued responding to emergencies and taking part in ambulance calls until about two weeks before her death. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2014, according to a GoFundMe page established for her.

“She was a strong person,” Crowley said. “She had a great sense of humor. She could take it as well as she could dish it out. But she was very strong and didn’t let people know what she was going through.”

Though she lived in Kingston, Neal-Ellsworth continued to volunteer in Woodstock and helped guide the rescue squad through a period of declining volunteer membership and the addition of paid emergency medical workers, Crowley said.

“During many years fighting cancer, her energy, spirit, and tenacious fight for volunteer EMS services never faltered,” Crowley said. “Dawn encouraged her crews to be the best, take on new challenges, and be at their peak with the most up-to-date EMS skills and standards.”

Crowley described Neal-Ellsworth as a coach, trainer, and leader who cared deeply about the people she served with and the community they served.

“She leaves a legacy of compassion, and a profound void for all who have served with her in EMS,” Crowley said. “Her skills and commitment to the Woodstock Rescue Squad and the EMS greater community will be held as a benchmark.”

Crowley said Neal-Ellsworth also made sure rescue squad and fire department families were included in activities, helping foster support for volunteer emergency medical services among younger generations.

Neal-Ellsworth was married and had a daughter, Ivy, who Crowley said was “the apple of her eye.”

Weidenbacher said plans for a memorial were underway.

John W. Barry is a reporter for The Overlook. Reach him at john@theoverlooknews.com.