Charles W. Ellis

Charles W. Ellis, 82, of Scottsbluff, died Sunday, November 6, 2005 at Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff. A graveside service will be 2:30 p.m. Thursday, November 10, 2005 at Fairview Cemetery with Pastor Jake Roberts officiating. A memorial service will be held at a later date at the Residency in Scottsbluff. Friends may call at Dugan-Kramer Funeral Chapel between 9:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. Wednesday and from 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Thursday. Charles W. (Chuck) Ellis was born November 8, 1922 in Auburn, NE to P. Cooper and Margaret (Tourtelot) Ellis. He moved with his parents to Mill Valley, CA in 1924, later to San Francisco and then to Scottsbluff, NE in 1927, graduating there from high school in 1940 and from Scottsbluff Junior College in 1942. He enlisted as a cadet in the Army Air Corps in 1942 and graduated as a pilot with a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant on March 12, 1944. He went on to complete 35 combat bombing missions over Germany in 1944 and 1945 in the B-17 Flying Fortress. He married Jane Ryerson Scriven on March 15, 1944 in Mitchell, NE. Following the war he attended and graduated from the University of Colorado with a BS in Aeronautical Engineering. Subsequently he was employed in the Aerospace industry, working initially at NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, now NASA) at their Propulsion Laboratory in Cleveland, OH. He then worked with the Martin Company in Denver, CO, associated with the Titan I and II Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. Finally at Lockheed Missiles & Space Company in Sunnyvale, CA he worked on the Agena propulsion module for the Gemini Satellite Program and other projects. Following retirement in 1986 he returned with his wife Jane to Scottsbluff in 1987. They moved into the Residency of the Northfield Retirement Community in 1992 where in 1996 his wife Jane of 52 years died after a prolonged bout with Alzheimer’s disease. In 1997 he married Jane’s foster sister, Anita Clay Scriven Kendall whose husband of 49 years had also died in 1996. The wedding was welcomed and attended by all of the children, Chuck’s three daughters and spouses and Anita’s two sons and one daughter and their spouses as well as some grandchildren. After the marriage in Texas, they returned to the Residency in Scottsbluff. He was a member of the Calvary Baptist Church in Los Gatos, CA and attended Monument Bible Church in Scottsbluff. Chuck will be remembered most for his dedication to God, his family and friends, and service to his country. His gentle humor brought smiles to all that knew him. He is survived by his wife Anita, three daughters and sons-in-law: Pam and Larry Harding of Prescott, AZ, Lorrie and Wayne Heskett of Campbell, CA and Margy and Gregg Gehrig of Overland Park, KS, three granddaughters and four grandsons, and a sister her brother-in-law: Margy and Quintin Martin of Scottsbluff. Also surviving are stepchildren in Texas, Sigurd and Gail Kendall of Bryan, Nancy and Ken Wiech of Houston, Steve and Sherry Kendall of Plano, three step-granddaughters and one step-grandson. He was preceded in death by both parents and first wife Jane.