Ella Mae Bauerlien, a retired publishing house worker and community volunteer, died of cancer Sunday at Carroll Hospice in Westminster. The Westminster resident was 82.

Born Ella Mae Esworthy in the Carroll County community of Gist, she attended Carroll County public schools.

She worked at Butte Knits, later Westminster Knit Co., a clothing manufacturer, and at the Black & Decker plant in Hampstead. She retired from the book-return department at Random House in Westminster.

She was a member of the Westminster Church of the Brethren, where she was a deacon, choir member and soup kitchen volunteer.

Mrs. Bauerlien sang in the Super 60s choir of the Westminster Church of the Open Door and worked in the church's homeless shelter.

She crocheted blankets and donated them to the Baltimore Child Abuse Center and Carroll County Project Linus. She made baby hats for the Family Birthplace at Carroll Hospital Center, where she also did additional volunteer work.

Mrs. Bauerlien received a bronze Leader Award from the Commanders Club of the Disabled American Veterans. Family members said she drove senior citizens to doctor appointments, the grocery store and church.

She enjoyed reading the Bible, crocheting and spending time with her five grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Her husband of 36 years, Gilbert T. Bauerlien, a painter, died in 1982.

Services will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Pritts Funeral Home and Chapel, 412 Washington Road in Westminster.

In addition to her grandchildren, survivors include two daughters, Darlene Muse of Edgewater and Linda Gray of Reisterstown; a brother, Herbert Esworthy of Westminster; and two sisters, Rachel Campbell of McSherrystown, Pa., and Leona Utz of Westminster.