Dates
Harold Lester Ellis, Jr., 90, passed away July 14, 2015 surrounded by his family after a short battle with cancer. There will be a visitation on Friday, July 17 at Johnson's Funeral Home from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. A reception will follow at Ric and Karen Abbott's home that evening. The service will be held on Saturday, June 18 in Johnson's Funeral Home Chapel at 10 a.m. followed by a graveside service in Sunset Memorial Gardens in Odessa, Texas at 3 p.m.
Harry was born on June 18, 1925 in Graham,Texas to Harold Lester Ellis, Sr. (Jelly) and Helen Widmayer Ellis and spent his childhood in Odessa and Big Spring. He graduated from Odessa High and was in the Army Air Corps during World War II. While stationed in Illinois he met Frances Shryock and they were married in June 1947. He graduated from Texas A&M in Chemical Engineering and worked in the oil industry in West Texas, the Gulf of Mexico, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Canada, Ekofisk in the North Sea and Nigeria. For the past three years, he and Fran have lived in San Angelo with their youngest daughter Karen and her husband Ric Abbott. Harry was a consummate gentleman who always saw the good in people and treated everyone with kindness and respect. His humor and love of life won him many friends around the world. He is predeceased by his parents Jelly and Helen Ellis of Odessa, his sister and brother-in-law Helen Marie and Frank Morris of Odessa, his niece Donna Morris and his nephew Mike Morris of Odessa.
Harry is survived by his wife Fran Ellis of San Angelo; his daughter Nancy (Herman) Vanderlaag of Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada; his son Harold (Christina) Ellis III of Richmond, Virginia; his daughter Karen (Ric) Abbott of San Angelo, Texas; his nine grandchildren: Nikki (Steve) Davy, Carla (Chace) Holland, Kathy Vanderlaag (Craig Peters), Harold Ellis IV, Matt Abbott (Ed Piker), Jenny Ellis, Stephanie (Tom) Deignan, Carrie Ellis, Cassie Ellis; his six great- grandchildren: Cameron, Tristan, Lily, Mackenzie, Jake, Cole; his nephews and niece: Tim (Judy) Morris of Ruidoso, New Mexico, Steve (Olivia) Morris of Victoria, Texas, and Cherie Widmayer of Artesia, New Mexico.