Clear and Windy, 63° F
(Nov. 2, 2007)
George Wilson Ellis of Lovell died Thursday, Nov. 2 at the New Horizon’s Care Center in Lovell. He was 90.
He was born April 19, 1917 in Hobart, Okla., to Jacob and Lillie McBride Ellis. He was the oldest of eight children. When he was 13, the family moved to Tishomingo, Okla., where he completed his junior year.
He joined the Civilian Conservation Corps in August, 1935 coming by train with 175 other young men to Deaver. There he met his future wife, Velta Berryman. While in the CCC, he shoveled ditches and cut willows around the Deaver area. After a short time, he went to the kitchen where he offered to keep the fires going for a nickel a day. His job was to start the fires in two kitchen stoves and two heaters in the mess hall.
George moved to Kane in 1937 to work for Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad. He worked for 20 years for the railroad, helping to build the bridge over the Big Horn River. He went to work for Great Western Sugar in 1943 and worked every sugar beet campaign until 1979, missing only two. In 1979, he retired to become a full-time farmer, finally fully retiring in 2003.He waited five years for his sweetheart to get her education in Denver and then teach for one year in Lovell. They were married 67 years on May 18, 2007. They ran a small store and Sinclair Service Station until Velta became postmistress in Kane.
George leaves behind his children, Karen (Wayne) Spragg, Larry Ellis, and Elaine Good (Ron Hermes) all of Lovell; grandchildren, Sam Spragg, Shannon (Christy) Ellis, Spencer (Annette) Ellis, Scoti Kober, and Lisa (Dean) Wilkerson, all of Lovell, and Shana (Ken) Bartle and Chris (Miria) Good, both of Powell; great-grandchildren, J.C. Bartle, Shallan Schultz, Casey and Melissa Ellis, Jacob and Chelsey Ellis, Ann and Cindy Spragg, Taylor Jolley, Jordyn Kober, Ashley, Alexandra, Brooklyn, Ryan, and Megan Good, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral services were held Monday, Dec. 3 at the United Methodist Church in Lovell. Burial was in the Lovell Cemetery, with Haskell Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
