With the gracious support of Kim's family, friends and former teammates, the University of Portland is launching a 'Kim's Korner' section at every women's basketball home game. A campaign has been launched where fans can purchase tickets for this section that provides admission and assists with transportation logistics for local community groups to attend at no cost. Visit PortlandPilots.com/Tickets to contribute today. Please reach out to Dave Taylor at taylord@up.edu or (503) 943-7525 to nominate a group for inclusion to the Kim's Korner program for an upcoming game. Additionally, fans can donate to benefit the University of Portland women's basketball program in Kim's name. Click here to submit a donation online or contact Andrew Keippela at keippean@up.edu or (503) 943-8329 for more information.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Nicole Brown didn't know Kim Ellsworth that well her first year teaching at South Meadows Middle School in Hillsboro, Ore. She knew she was the teacher below her and that she had to tell her students often not to slam chairs in order to respect the classroom below, but otherwise they hadn't interacted much before. She was just another teacher in a classroom.

Then the following year, Nicole attended her first ever AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) Conference, and she just happened to be roommates with Kim for the event. Nicole was nervous, but she felt comfortable enough with Kim after spending time talking with her to share those fears. It was her first conference and only her second year teaching and she felt overwhelmed.

But Kim gave her some simple advice that made Nicole feel at ease. "Just relax," Kim said. "Just have fun, it's going to be fine."

Kim gave Nicole that constant reassurance. She even showed Nicole the notecard her husband had given her before the conference to right down questions. "You always ask questions and you'll feel involved," Kim said.

"She was very comforting," Brown said. "She wasn't a lot older than me, but she was kind of like an older sister, like that mom-like 'I got you' kind of attitude. You could tell that she had kids."

It's a simple story, but one that shows the values that Kim exemplified; kindness, patience and service. Kim's life was one dedicated to helping and serving others, to making people laugh, smile and persevere through any situation. It's that legacy of unconditional kindness – as a player, a coach, a teacher and a mother – that she leaves behind.
Kim Ellsworth (formerly Kim Green) was born on Sept. 11, 1976 in Mount Vernon, New York. She was one of 10 kids, landing right smackdab in the middle as the fourth oldest. Her family moved to North Portland when she was five years old, and Oregon would continue to be their home.

Moving can be a difficult thing. Having to navigate a whole new place on the opposite side of the country can feel like a burden. It was certainly hard on Sarah, Kim's younger sister by just a couple years. But Kim became the one that Sarah idolized, the sister who helped her most when she was struggling.
 
"When I was younger, I wouldn't say I was nonverbal, but I stuttered a lot as a kid," Sarah recalled. "I really didn't speak until I was probably six or seven, and she was always my guide. She knew what I was thinking and helped me navigate through a lot of issues as a child."

Kim's willingness to help Sarah through thick and thin was just more proof of the impact she had on people even from a young age. Sarah looks back and thinks about how Kim always stepped up for her during those rough years. It helped strengthened the relationship between the two sisters.

"It was a little bit of a rougher childhood for me," Sarah said. "She definitely had to step up."

It's not easy raising 10 kids, but Sarah doesn't remember life feeling hard per se. She knew there were plenty of hardships from growing up in North Portland, but with the support of her parents – and, of course, Kim – they made it through.

"I know definitely it had to be difficult at times," Sarah said. "I was not aware of a lot of the hardships growing up because they made it look so easy."
 
All of the Greens played basketball. They would hit up all of the courts in North Portland – Irvington, Jefferson High School, Benson Polytechnic High School's court (where Kim and Sarah would play together), the Salvation Army Community Basketball Court – wherever they could play ball, you could find the Green kids there.

And they were good, too. Kim obviously played her college ball here on The Bluff, and Sarah did the same, but they were far from the only members of the Green family to grace the hardwood at the college level.

Six of the 10 Green kids went on to play some form of college basketball. Allegra, the oldest sister, and Michael, the oldest brother, both played at Oregon State. Their younger siblings, Daniel and Tamar, both played at the next level too, with Daniel playing at a junior college in Washington and Tamar at Florida A&M.

The Green's were a gifted family, but few worked harder than Kim on the court. That determination was well on display at the high school level playing at Benson. During her time there, she led Benson to a third-place finish at the state tournament, earned the team's Most Inspirational award and several other accolades. Sarah, who played with her sister for two years at Benson, said that she was always the model teammate, and she helped Sarah on the court in the same way that she helped off it.

"She always knew what you were trying to say," Sarah said. "She knew what your power points were."
 
Her skill on the court helped her earn a spot on North Portland's very own University of Portland women's basketball team. Kim wasn't a scholarship player from the start. She was a walk-on with the women's team here at UP, having to earn every minute of playing time. That was no easy task back in the 1990s, when Jim Sollars was at the helm of one of the best eras of Portland women's basketball.

Sollars spent 28 years as head coach of the Pilots, but arguably his most successful years coincided with when Kim wore purple and white for the Pilots. Kim played with the Pilots from the 1994 to 1998. During that span, the Pilots finished in the top three of the WCC every year, finished first in the conference twice and made the NCAA Tournament three times.

Sarah – who had a fine career herself, becoming one of the select few Pilots to eclipse 1,000 points – had the chance to play with Kim at UP, including with the 1997 NCAA tournament Team that finished first in the conference and battled Michigan State in the first round, taking the Spartans to overtime before falling just short 75-70. Without the support of the UP community, she's not sure they ever would've made it as far as they did.

"I think a lot of people were responsible for us reaching those levels," Sarah said. "I never thought it could happen here, but when I got there, we definitely did what we needed to do and had a lot of awesome opportunities."
 
Those runs at the tournament happened in no small part due to what Kim could do on the court. Kim was usually very happy-go-lucky, but when it came to basketball, it was all business. Most of Kim's action came in the paint, outworking anyone and everyone that came her way. Kim wasn't tall – she was only about 5-10, short for a post player – but that didn't matter; she was coming right at you every time.

It was during this time that Kim met her husband, Tim Ellsworth. Tim, a recent graduate of Oregon State, tagged along with his friend who was dating a member of the UP women's basketball team. Kim happened to join her teammate for the date as well. While their friends did their usual date stuff, Kim and Tim got to talking and found an instant connection. Not long after, Tim asked Kim out on a date and the rest was history.

"(I) got lucky through my roommate, who's relationship with the other girl didn't last," Tim said. "But another couple months and then Kim and I started dating and stayed together the rest of the time."

Tim didn't know a whole bunch, admittedly, about UP basketball at the time. All he really knew was that his new girlfriend was a part of the team. When he watched Kim play, the blue-collar style of play stood out on the court.

"She was very gritty," Tim said. "That's the word I would use. She got down low, did the dirty work."

For Tim, one game stood out. On Nov. 30, 1997, the Pilots played host to the Tennessee Volunteers. They were the best team in the nation that year and would go on to finish a perfect 39-0, beating every team they played except for two by double digits. Led by Tamika Catchings and Chamique Holdsclaw, they of course went on to win the national championship to cap off their perfect year. It's safe to say that they were one of the best teams to ever grace a college basketball court.

When they came to Portland, it went like just about every game did for Tennessee, with the Pilots falling 74-51. But the final score isn't what stands out for Tim. Instead, he remembers watching Kim take on Holdsclaw for most of the game, handling the assignment with no fear. Holdsclaw only scored 13 points, well below her average, and that was in no small part due to Kim.
 
"She had a grit to her," Tim said. "For lack of a better word, (she) probably pissed a few of the opposing teams off just with her hustle and battle."

And she was protective of her teammates – especially Sarah. Tim recalled being told a story at a reunion of the 1997 squad where Sarah was taking a few too many elbows in the post during a game. One time down the court after a tough battle, the same girl who had been battling with Sarah all night magically was on the ground the following play. Kim happened to be there and just lightly jogged by the girl.

Sarah doesn't recall the specific game either where that could've happened, but upon hearing about it, she just laughed.

"I am telling you that she had a low center of gravity," Sarah said with a laugh. "I can honestly say she knew how to use her body on the basketball court."
Once Kim's playing days were done she earned her master's at Portland State and became a teacher. With her basketball pedigree, she naturally transitioned into being a coach. The intensity she had on the court carried over to the bench.

Kim coached for a number of years at all different levels, from high school basketball to CYO basketball with St. Matthew's in Hillsboro. At the high school level, she coached at several schools in Hillsboro, where she and Tim raised their family.
 
Amy Westerfield was with Kim during her time as the freshman team coach at Glencoe High School. Amy and Kim knew each other well before – Amy played against Kim's sister, Allegra, in high school and even played with Kim at UP during her senior year and Kim's freshman year. As both a player and a coach, few stood out as a person more than Kim.

"The girls loved her," Amy said. "And she was very patient. She didn't yell or get worked up or anything … she had a great rapport with the kids."

Amy doesn't care as much about the on-court action during their time as coaches as she did the off-court memories. She remembers the laughs, Kim's smile that would light up any room, even buying Kim a cake for a baby shower they held in the locker room after a game when Kim was pregnant with her oldest daughter, Madison. It was always fun when Kim was around.

"She was just really able to make light of any situation," Amy said.

Arguably the most notable notch in Kim's coaching belt? Being the first women's basketball coach for Liberty High School in Hillsboro. Tim recalls those years being hard in the win-loss column, as it usually is for most new schools. At one point even, Kim coached against current University of Portland women's basketball coach Mike Meek, who at the time was the head coach at Southridge High School.

Southridge was not only one of the best teams in the state at the time, but one of the best teams in the nation. It was a mismatch that ended up going … let's just say poorly for Kim and Liberty. Tim doesn't recall the exact final score, but he does remember it being a hard loss for Kim.

"Kim got home and I was like, 'Whoa,'" Tim said. "She said that some of the parents were concerned about running up the score and she was like 'They didn't run up the score, what are they supposed to do!'"

But even when times were hard, she was always there for her players. Win or lose, her priority was always helping mold the young women she was coaching both on and off the court.

"That was hard for her because she was a competitive person," Tim said. "(But) she loved it. She loved impacting the lives of the girls. She would have Christmas parties at our house with the girls and team dinners at our house with the girls, thing like that. She just enjoyed trying to be a positive influence in their lives."
Coaching basketball was a prominent part of Kim's life, but it wasn't her basketball knowledge that made her successful. It was her ability to teach and her patience with her kids, skills that she honed with her work in the classroom.

Kim spent 16 years as a special education teacher in the Hillsboro School District. She often worked with kids who were struggling in school or dealt with different behavioral problems. It wasn't always an easy job, but it was one that Kim always handled with grace.

"A lot of her classes that she had were support classes or students with either learning disabilities or behavioral things," said Nicole, who worked with Kim at South Meadows. "(It took) a lot of patience and she always did a really good job."

Patience is a word that comes up often when describing Kim's teaching style. Kim was always a hard teacher who expected plenty from her students, but making sure that the kids understood what they were being taught was paramount to her.

"Kim always did a good job of explaining it in a different way so that the students would understand," Nicole said. "Because you might go to a classroom and someone teaches math one way, and you're like 'I don't know how to do this,' right? So can we explain it in a different way so that the students can understand if they don't understand? She would find other ways."
 
Kim's impact was felt widely enough that she impacted numerous students. One time, Nicole was talking to a high school student who had gone to South Meadows. She had asked Nicole if there were any black teachers working at South Meadows, and Nicole replied no – Kim was their most recent one.

The student went on to talk about how important Mrs. Ellsworth was in her life and the impact she had on her. Nicole and her kept talking and the student revealed that Kim had never taught her in any class; Kim had just always reached out to make sure the student was doing okay.

"She just cared about the kids," Nicole said. "I just thought that it was really cool that that student, who's like a sophomore or a junior now, still remembered that."

On another day, back when Kim was on lunch duty at South Meadows, it started snowing in Hillsboro. As most Oregon schools do when the powder starts covering the pavement, South Meadows called it an early day. As Kim was getting ready to leave, she saw a group of girls with only short-sleeve shirts and jeans on in the freezing cold and snow. Knowing that this group of girls had to walk home, Kim rushed to her car and gave them coats to wear for the walk home. She always had coats and blankets on hand, a lesson every good soccer mom learns.

"We never saw those coats again," Tim said. "She talked about it and would say 'Oh that girl has a coat of mine' when we saw them, but she was never going to get it back. She knew that her primary goal was making sure those kids got home safely and were warm in the process. That just kind of epitomizes how she was in the classroom; to just care dearly to make sure they were successful."
The one thing that always took priority, above basketball, above coaching and above teaching, was family. Kim loved her family, especially supporting her daughters, Madison and Braxtyn, in everything that they did.

One day, Nicole and Kim were talking about a wide variety of things, mostly their hopes and dreams for the future. For Kim, the one thing that she would have given up anything in the world to be, if it were financially feasible, was a full-time sports mom, shuttling around and cheering on her girls at whatever event it may be. Everything that Kim did was done in hopes to benefit her daughters.

"She loved her daughters so much," Nicole said. "And she was like 'I just want to be a full-time soccer mom.'" 
 
"If we could have afforded to have her be at every game on every sideline, that's what she would do full time for sure," Tim concurred. "As a family first person from the time she was little to when we started our family … she just embraced watching them."

That passion and competitive spirit that Kim possessed was passed on to her daughters. Madison, a senior in college, currently plays soccer at Oregon State, while Braxtyn made the Hillsboro High School Varsity Soccer squad as a freshman. Braxtyn's true passion, however, remains basketball, and Tim says she already plays a lot like her mother once did.

"I'll say Braxtyn is a protégé of her mother and how she played," Tim said. "She's gritty, she works hard. She'll outrebound anybody on the court and she plays solid defense … she's doing very well."

When it gets brought up that Kim's probably happy too see at least one of the kids prefers basketball, Tim just smiles. "Yep," Tim said. "She's smiling down."
In March of 2018, the Ellsworth family was headed to the beach towards Tierra Del Mar, just north of Pacific City. Kim hadn't felt great all week, thinking she was fighting a nasty case of the flu, dealing with constant nausea and dizziness.

One evening during the trip, Kim stayed home while the rest of the family went out for a walk. They came back and Kim was still not feeling well. Later in the evening, Kim collapsed. It was clear she wasn't feeling well, and they rushed her to the hospital to try and figure out what was wrong with Kim.

What was causing Kim's problems wasn't the flu; it was a blood clot that had gotten stuck in her calf. When the blood clot got caught in her calf, eventually the clot broke free and was "released" into her system. For Kim, the blood clot was eventually captured in her lungs, blocking the blood flow through that part of her body.

Kim died later that night. She was 41.
Grief is a hard thing to process, especially when the process begins suddenly and without warning.

"It was a weird day," Tim simply says. "I think about it often. You always kind of question, 'Could you have done something different? Could we have done something different?' It was a tough one."

Sarah remembers the day like it was yesterday. It was the day before Easter that year. She was actually house sitting for the Ellsworths. That morning, one of her younger brothers and sisters came to the door. Sarah doesn't consider herself one to open her door often, but once she saw their faces, she knew instinctively something was wrong.

When her brother told her what had happened, it became an overwhelming feeling of shock.

"I didn't believe it at the time when they told me," Sarah said. "But I think, even before I opened up the door, I feel like I knew it.

"The first thing I said was 'What am I going to do?' And then I apologized because it sounded very selfish … but I remember when I was speaking, thinking about how my parents are gone, and the next person to me that was like a parent, who stood up for me and spoke for me and broke up with boyfriends for me when I couldn't call … coming to the realization that I wouldn't have that person physically with me anymore, I was like 'What am I going to do?'"
 
For Tim, it was a feeling of shock followed by a sudden onset of fear. He suddenly had to navigate life without Kim, with a family to continue raising on his own.

"It was just a shock factor and a fear factor," Tim said. "Just the fear of navigating life with a senior in high school and a fifth grader … it was more about my two daughters and the fear of making sure they were successful."

It was in her death that the Ellsworth family really saw what Kim's impact was. The weeks to follow were a whirlwind, in no small part due to the overwhelming support from the community and the Green family. Their church community at St. Matthew's and the schools that Kim worked at immediately gave the Ellsworths an outpouring of support. The Miyama family, who were close friends with the Ellsworths, started a fundraiser with a goal of raising $10,000. They raised over $20,000 for the Ellsworth family.

"We got home on Saturday and within two hours we had a house full of St. Matthew's families here," Tim said. "We were very well taken care of and very well supported by our families – both the Green family and the Ellsworth family – but that extended family through the church and through the school was amazing to lean on and get support."

Kim's funeral took place at St. Matthew's church, the same church where she went to mass at and the same place where she would coach her CYO teams. Hundreds of people attended her funeral, from family to former players and students to even former teammates and coaches.

"Absolutely packed," was how Amy described it, who was one of several UP basketball people to attend the funeral, including Sollars and former Portland assistant coach and current Oregon Ducks women's basketball head coach Kelly Graves. "There was no place to sit, and it's a big church out there. Just the number of people who came out … she touched a lot of people's lives."

"She was just a light to people," Nicole said. "Just the way she made you feel."
On Sept. 11 of this year, Kim's birthday, Sarah and her younger siblings took time to remember her sister, regaling each other with different stories from their past. That same weekend was also the Green family's parents' anniversary, both of whom died in their mid-50s. It was a heavy weekend for everyone, but it was also a cathartic one.

"That took a lot out of me emotionally," Sarah said. "Although, it was amazing, recounting all those stories."

Sarah, Tim and everyone affected by Kim's death found strength in leaning on one another. Sarah couldn't help thinking about her sister on her birthday and just how much she had done.

"It was just sort of surreal revisiting a lot of the things she was able to do in her 41 years," Sarah said. "She was out there. They were travelling, going to World Cups, all these cool vacations and going to see her daughters play in different states … she packed a lot in those 41 years."
 
For Tim and his daughters, he has found strength in a catholic faith that was implanted in him by Kim years ago. He still goes to church with his daughters whenever possible, with Braxtyn still at St. Matthew's and Madison at churches in Corvallis. It was another gift from Kim that keeps their family strong.

"I think their mom really instilled the importance of that," Tim said.

With someone like Kim, it's hard to distill her legacy into being one thing. She was so many things to so many people. In the end, Nicole, the same nervous teacher that Kim put at ease all those years ago, might have put it most succinctly.

Kim was just a light.