James Norman Ellis

James N. Ellis, age 83, passed away on Saturday, January 7th, 2023, in San Antonio Texas. Jim was born on May 8th, 1939, in Flint, Michigan to parents Norman James and Dorothy Emma Ellis. Jim was the oldest and final surviving sibling of their three children.

Jim grew up in Detroit, Michigan in a house on Griggs Avenue. Jim attended Michigan State University where he received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with honors in 1961. During his time in East Lansing, he also met and became engaged to his future bride Bonnie Lynne Listello. They graduated from Michigan State at the same time, and later that same year on August 5, 1961, they were married at Outer Drive Faith Lutheran Church in Detroit. That year thus turned out to be the first of over 60 very special years spent together.

Jim spent his career with General Motors. After a career filled with numerous noteworthy achievements, he retired in 1997 as chief engineer with the successful launch of GM’s first production electric vehicle EV1, the Impact. He was well known for the motto “In God we Trust, all others bring data”. He was also instrumental in developing the “IAPIE” method of continuous improvement for GM – a philosophy he also regularly applied in his personal life as a life-long learner, constantly seeking to understand himself and improve. He would summarize this as “Learn from the past. Understand the present. Create the Future.” In keeping with this, all close family members became very familiar with personality temperament type assessments, which were frequent topics of conversation with Jim.

Jim and Bonnie raised two children, Glenn Norman and Amy Lynne, while living in the suburbs of Detroit on Reddingwood Drive in Rochester, Michigan. They were members of St. Paul United Methodist Church. Over the years they enjoyed time spent in Northern Michigan - snow skiing in the winter and boating in the summer. Jim loved the outdoors in any season and with nearly any activity. Around 1969, Jim and Bonnie built a chalet-style home outside the town of Harbor Springs, Michigan (they built it – they didn’t have it built). Jim was both an avid and expert skier and ski instructor, while equally adept at both sailing and power boating on the Great Lakes. Boating took place on Lake St. Clair near Detroit, as well as on Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, the Straights of Mackinac, Lake Superior and the Saint Laurence Seaway. Jim built the family’s first sailboat “Demi-Sec” in the basement of their home, which was later replaced by Freestyle, Nautica, Watercolors, and then a Nordic Tug named Ingomar after the Ellis family farm. After Jim retired, they moved to Bester Road outside of Harbor Springs, and spent years enjoying Ingomar on the northern Great Lakes and the North Channel visiting friends and many favorite places including Gore Bay, Little Current and Drummond Island. For skiing, Nub’s Nob ski area near Harbor Springs was Jim’s home base for 50 years with family and many friends. After retiring, Jim was a ski instructor at Nub’s for several seasons, and took annual trips with ski buddies to Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Canada well into his late 70’s. His ski locker at Nub’s was carefully custom outfitted each season with shelving, hooks, straps, tools and supplies to keep all the gear organized and operating effectively. His secret to keeping his feet warm in ski boots was well known to family and close friends: plastic bags over the feet and underneath the socks! Despite that, he also carried hand and foot warmers - for his grandchildren, ski students, and sometimes even for his adult children.

Jim became a grandfather in 2001 (Norman Glenn Ellis) and again in 2007 (Amanda Marie Ellis), born to their son Glenn and wife Laura. Jim and Bonnie continued to enjoy many years boating in the summer and skiing in the winter. About this time they also bought their first RV, then another, and then a third, enjoying lots of adventures around the country and especially Texas. Eventually, Jim and Bonnie moved to Kerrville, Texas in 2016, after many trips over the years visiting the kids and grandchildren living in nearby San Antonio. They adapted well to life in the Texas Hill Country and celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2022 with a Caribbean cruise out of Galveston. Note: Around 2016, Jim did give up driving his last Suburban, opting instead for only electric vehicles - a Chevy Volt for him, and a Chevy Bolt for Bonnie which to this day remain fully charged and ready to go.

This tribute would not be complete without mention of Jim’s lifelong friend of more than 72 years, Richard “Dick” Moxley. They first met in junior high school and attended Birmingham High School together, and then Michigan State University. Both came from families owning Michigan farms, and they shared several common other interests including working on cars together. Given their long friendship, it seems so very fitting that Dick was also the last of Jim’s friends to visit him at the Kerrville, Texas home in 2022.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents Norman James and Dorothy Emma, his sister Dorothy Anne and his brother Robert Allen. He is survived by his wife Bonnie, son Glenn and wife Laura, daughter Amy and husband Shane Kocks, and grandchildren Norman and Amanda.

The family wishes to express their profound gratitude to all of the amazing and dedicated caregivers from Methodist Hospitals Main and Stone Oak, Peterson Regional Medical Center, and Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital.

In lieu of gifts or flowers, contributions to The National Kidney Foundation at www.kidney.org are welcome and appreciated.