Health

Cause Of Death For Keith Ellison’s Mother Listed As Complications Of COVID-19

REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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Clida Cora Martinez Ellison, mother of Minnesota Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison, passed away on March 26 — but the family later learned that she had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

According to reporting from the Star Tribune, Ellison’s mother was 82 at the time of her passing. (RELATED: Once Shot On A Baseball Field, Steve Scalise Responds To Keith Ellison’s Claim That Bernie Bros Aren’t Violent)

Clida Ellison earned a master’s degree in social work at 57, after her husband suffered a debilitating stroke, and went on to work 20 years in the juvenile division of Michigan’s Third Circuit Court.

Ellison’s son and Minneapolis city council member Jeremiah Ellison responded to the news in an op-ed for the New York Times. “Knowing that makes me angrier — as though she didn’t truly pass but was snatched from us,” he said.

The younger Ellison also noted with sadness the strange way in which his grandmother’s funeral was held, with attendees wearing masks and seated six feet apart.

“Funerals have, all of a sudden, become tricky — dangerous even. Remembering the funeral, the absence of hugs, the absence of a full church and the absence of Nana, I pictured all the funerals happening — or being postponed — in New Orleans, Chicago, Milwaukee and elsewhere,” he wrote.

Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz offered his condolences to his AG, saying, “@GwenWalz and I send our love to our friend @AGEllison through this unimaginable loss. Let’s resolve to do all we can to stop COVID-19 from taking more of our loved ones.”