[1][2] She was tasked with various therapies, medical illustration and leading facial paralysis cases, before being mobilized for overseas duty four months later.

She returned to the United States in March 1920, and after serving in the U.S.A. General Hospital 3 in Colonia, New Jersey, she went back to California to continue her teaching career.

The sorority made a special exception and officially founded a chapter at a private ceremony hosted by the Van Leers.

[2] Ella's daughter, Maryly Van Leer Peck, was National Chair of Student Affairs at Society of Women Engineers at the time and helped GeorgiaTech found a chapter for SWE with a support network.

[8][2][9][10] After Blake Van Leer died in 1956, Ella bought a house in the vicinity of Georgia Tech and turned it into "an unofficial women's dormitory".

[2] She was also active in the Georgia Tech chapter of the Society of Women Engineers, while serving as the trustee, President of the Auxiliary and Director of Volunteers at the Egleston Hospital from 1959 until her retirement in 1976.

[1][6] Since her husband was an orphan, Ella conducted a great deal of genealogy research on his behalf and set the foundation for the Van Leer family archives.