In 1973 she married Neels Harmse * 1939 Schweizer Reineke and they have two daughters, Benita and Anja and one grandson Tristan. She realized that not much research had been done on the HARMSE. She has placed a draft compilation of her research at the Heritage Foundation's Library and at Library of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in Wellington which houses the GISA collection for comment and to be supplemented and replaced annually with the latest information.
Ellen is also the co-ordinator of the tours to the different archives every year for the GSSA. It has grown from only going to the Western Cape Provincial Archive (formerly KAB), initially, to so much so that now tours to the Free State Provincial Archive and also to the National Archive in Pretoria are organized.