Ellis Francis Etheridge

Ellis Francis Etheridge, born July 30, 1920, in Denver, Colorado, passed on in Chula Vista, California on July 14, 2016. Son of Ellis Cornelius Etheridge of Guernsey, Wyoming and Mable Wilkinson of Greeley, Colorado, Ellis was raised in Greeley and Minot, North Dakota, where he participated in ski jumping competitions. He often spent summers with his grandma Etheridge.

Ellis attended Colorado State Teacher’s College in Greeley for two years, then married Eileen Ruth Etheridge and settled in Eastlake, Colorado, where their son David Ellis was born. He entered the Army Air Corps in 1942 and was stationed in England and France in WWII. After the war and the birth of daughter Janet Lynn they moved to north Denver, where he apprenticed in carpentry and entered the custom home building business. Ellis was a Boy Scout troop leader, Explorer Scout troop leader and church Trustee at Berkeley Congregational Church.

In 1976 he divorced. He lived in Idaho Springs, north Arvada, and Westminster. Ellis was chaplain of the Boulder Elks and belonged to the Golden VFW. In 2003 he moved to Kimberling City, Missouri, then to Norman, Oklahoma in 2008, Thayne, Wyoming in 2010, and finally the California Veterans Home in Chula Vista in 2015. Ellis’s last travel was an Honor Flight last fall to the WWII Memorial in Wash., D.C., accompanied by son-in-law Lawrence Klumas, Col.(Ret.), USAF. He was thrilled by the children who crowded around listening to his stories at each of the war memorials.

Ellis was predeceased by infant son Ross Lane in 1952, sister Alverna Bowden in 2006, son David in 2010, and half-brother Edward in 2015. He is survived by Eileen Etheridge, daughter-in-law Cheryl Etheridge; daughter Janet Klumas; grandchildren Scott Etheridge, Suzanne Ouellette, and Janet Lynn Robinson; and great grandchildren Luc & Nina Ouellette, Bennett & Sydney Etheridge, Ashlyn & Mackenzie Robinson.

Interment was at Olinger Crown Hill Cemetery. Memorial service and celebration of Ellis’s life will be held on Saturday, September 3 at 1:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Peace at Olinger Crown Hill at 7777 W. 29th Avenue, Wheat Ridge. In lieu of flowers you may wish to remember him with a donation to his son David’s memorial scholarship fund at the University of Oklahoma School of Music.