Nancy Ann Barnett Ellis

Published 12:23 am Friday, May 8, 2015

May 7, 1925-April 25, 2015

Just after midnight on April 25th Nancy Barnett Ellis died at the Hospice House in Bend, Oregon at the age of 89. She was born in Fort D.A. Russell, Wyoming on May 7, 1925, the youngest of four daughters of James Barnett and Ayleen Fry. Nancy’s father was a career officer in the United States Army and she lived many places during her childhood. Among them were the War College in Washington D. C. and the Presidio in San Francisco where she graduated from Lowell High School in 1942. After spending her freshman year at the University of California in Berkeley she transferred to Hendrix College in Conway Arkansas where she majored in history. A few years after graduating from Hendrix, she enrolled in St. Margaret’s House in Berkeley, California where she completed her formal education by earning a Masters Degree in Christian Education. It was there that she met her future husband, W. Robert Ellis, an Episcopal seminarian at Church Divinity School of the Pacific. They were married in June of 1951, and had three children, Wendy Seems of Bend, Bill Ellis (Beth) of Spokane, Washington, and Beth Cirzan (Ralph) of Tucson, Arizona. After living for various amounts of time in Portland, Newport, Eugene and Concord California, Nancy and her husband Bob settled in Ashland in 1968, and lived there until they moved to Bend in 1992. During that time Nancy was very active in Trinity Episcopal Church, Ashland, where her husband was the rector. She worked in the business office at Southern Oregon College starting as a cashier and eventually becoming the head of the accounts payable department. In 1992 they moved to Bend. Shortly after her husband died in 2007 Nancy moved to Bend Villa, where she lived until her death.

Nancy’s family history was defined in many ways by the United States Army. Not only was her father a brigadier general, her lineage included people who fought for the Confederate States of America and others who fought in the American Revolution. That history had its effect, for Nancy understood true devotion to duty and evinced it in her own life. Yet, though her respect for the army never wavered, she manifested that devotion not through the military, but through her lifelong membership in and work for the Episcopal Church. Nancy did not love God and the Church because she married an Episcopal priest. It would be fairer to say that Nancy married an Episcopal priest because she loved God and the Church. Moreover, her membership in the League of Women Voters, Habitat for Humanity and the ACLU was rooted in her sense of God’s call for justice and fairness for all. Ever a gracious presence, Nancy Ellis embodied an expansive spirit which made room for everyone, and as a result everyone made room for her.

Nancy is survived by her three children, six grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Her memorial service will be held at Trinity Episcopal Church in Bend, Oregon on May 7th at 2:00 PM. Memorials may be sent to Trinity Episcopal Church or to Partners in Care-Hospice of Bend.