James Robert Ellwanger

James Robert "Jim" Ellwanger passed peacefully into his new life with God in San Antonio, Texas, on October 24, 2012, four days before his 68th birthday and after a valiant eleven-month battle with brain cancer. Jim was born in Carroll, Iowa, on October 28, 1944, to James Arthur "Art" Ellwanger and Mary Frances (O'Rourke) Ellwanger. He grew up on the family farm near Newell, Iowa, and at an early age his love of baseball became apparent. He graduated from Newell-Providence High School in 1962, Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa, in 1966 and received a Masters Degree from the University of Iowa in 1978. Jim married Gloria Faber on December 26, 1969, at St. John Catholic Church, Bancroft, Iowa, and their marriage was blessed with two children, Eric and Marla. He was called to serve in the US Army from 1969 to 1971. While in Iowa Jim taught and coached at Spalding Catholic HS, Granville; St. Edmond HS, Ft. Dodge; and Briar Cliff College, Sioux City. Among the numerous honors received during his teaching and coaching career were being named Iowa High School Baseball Coach of the Year in 1977, Iowa College Baseball Coach of the year in 1980 and his induction in 1983 into the Iowa High School Baseball Coach's Association Hall of Fame. After establishing a successful baseball program at Briar Cliff, the opportunity to coach college baseball in the more hospitable climate of the south brought Jim to San Antonio, Texas, in 1986. From 1986-1992 he established a second respected and winning baseball program at University of the Incarnate Word where he also served in capacities of Athletic Director, Dean of Students and instructor of Physical Education. From 1992 until December 2011 when illness forced Jim to retire, he taught at East Central ISD and North East ISD Alternative Schools. From 2000 to 2011, he was also an adjunct instructor at UIW, teaching Dimensions of Wellness courses. Always a man to keep himself in excellent physical condition, he regularly outran and outlasted his college students. He found great joy in teaching young adults how to become and stay physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually fit. Jim read constantly, knowing that learning and education were life-long pursuits. He taught and lived by example his life philosophy: be positive, do your best and never give up. His acceptance of every person for who they are, his quiet integrity and his compassion for the less fortunate were apparent in how he lived his life. He was a gentleman and a gentle man. Jim's greatest legacy was raising a happy and loving family. He was an exemplary and loving husband, father of two and grandfather of five. A life-long Catholic Christian, he practiced his faith and tried to live the Gospel of Jesus each day of his life. Despite his busy work schedule, Jim found time for hobbies that included physical fitness, running, hiking, following his children's events, following the St. Louis Cardinals and the Iowa Hawkeyes, creating and maintaining a beautiful yard and koi pond, reading, traveling to historic sites, doing antique shows with his wife and spending time with his children and grandchildren. He will be greatly missed by his wife and soul mate of 42 years, Gloria; son Eric Ellwanger (Tara) of Allen, TX; daughter Marla Edwards (Chad) of North Little Rock, AR; grandchildren Allie and Megan Ellwanger, and Ren, Austin and Ella Edwards; and brother Kendrick Ellwanger (Mary) of Larkspur, CO. He will also be missed by his teaching colleagues, his former students and student athletes in Iowa and Texas, his many wonderful friends and neighbors; his caregivers, especially Mary Fulton; and hundreds of friends from around the world who are part of the Chromosome18 Registry & Research Society family. His parents, Art and Mary Ellwanger, his Ellwanger and O'Rourke grandparents, and a niece, Nancy Loew, preceded him in death. The family wishes to give special thanks to Dr. Andrew Brenner and supporting staff at the Cancer Treatment and Research Center of San Antonio and to the Cima Hospice staff for the excellent and compassionate care they provided in his illness. The family will receive friends from 6:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M., Friday, October 26, 2012, at Porter Loring Mortuary North.

ROSARY

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012

7:00 P.M.

PORTER LORING NORTH CHAPEL

MASS

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2012

10:30 A.M.

ST. HELENA'S CATHOLIC CHURCH

14714 EDGEMONT STREET

A Mass in Celebration of Jim's life will also be held at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Fort Dodge, Iowa, next week, followed by interment at Oakland Cemetery, Sac City, Iowa, where he will rest near his parents and his O'Rourke grandparents. Memorial gifts may be made in Jim's name to The Chromosome 18 Registry, 7155 Oakridge Drive, San Antonio, TX, www.chromosome18.org or to the Sisters of St. Francis, 3390 Windsor Ave, Dubuque, IA, www.osfdbq.org.