Kenneth Joseph Ellis

Kenneth “Ken” Ellis was a husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend. He passed away unexpectedly on December 17, 2023, at age 79, in Austin, Texas. The Celebration of Ken’s Life will be held on Saturday, January 20, 2024, from 4-6 p.m. at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Austin (301 East 8th Street).

Ken was born to Paul and Catherine Ellis on July 14, 1944. Ken’s dad was a cook in the federal prison system, which meant growing up near several federal prisons across the country, including in Indiana, Virginia, Oklahoma, and eventually El Paso. One of eight kids, Ken’s childhood was spent in a bustling house with his brothers, including his twin Dennis, and two younger sisters.

Ken had a sharp mind. He showed a talent for math and science. He graduated from Gadsden High School in 1962. He attended Texas Western (now the University of Texas at El Paso) and graduated in 1966. Ken liked to remind family that he attended all home games for the Miner’s famous national championship team of 1966 (highlighted in the Disney film “Glory Road”).

Ken moved to Nashville to pursue his Ph.D. in nuclear physics at Vanderbilt University. As part of his doctorate program, Ken was required to conduct research available only at select laboratory facilities, so he moved to Long Island, New York, to complete his Ph.D. research at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Ken successfully earned his doctorate in nuclear physics from Vanderbilt in 1971 and accepted a full-time job with the U.S. Department of Energy to continue his work at Brookhaven National Laboratory. He focused on nuclear medicine.

The real reason Ken stayed in New York was that he met the love of his life: Louise “Lu” Russo, his wife of 52 years. Ken and Lu met, dated, and married in less than six months. Ken’s relationship with Lu introduced him to the ways of a large New York Italian family. He soon found himself enjoying long Sunday family dinners, homemade meatballs, and baked ziti.

Ken and Lu had two kids (Kate and Luke). Ken, Lu, and the kids lived in an extended family environment with Lu’s parents, two sisters and their spouses, and nieces and nephew all nearby. Ken enjoyed his time in New York—the snow, the beach, riding his bike with the kids in Bayport, and yearly camping trips in Montauk—but he never forgot about Texas (he was, after all, a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan).

Ken’s career progressed and he accepted a tenured faculty position at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. In 1987, the family moved to Houston, where Ken and Lu lived for the next 20 years.

They eventually retired and moved to Wimberley, where they enjoyed taking in the beautiful Blanco River Valley view from their back deck. Ken’s time in Wimberley was spent hosting family and friends, volunteering with the Lions Club, serving on the church vestry, tinkering in his garage workshop (there wasn’t anything he wasn’t willing to try to fix himself), and making regular trips to Austin to see his kids and grandkids.

Ken loved his role as “Pop” to all six of his grandkids and had a special relationship with each—Ethan, Zadie, Ava, Marlowe, Everest, and Archer. Fun holidays and birthdays, attending school and sporting events, trips to the Wimberley Dairy Queen, and movie nights with the grandkids became a big part of his life.