Funeral services were held for Harold Ellis, age 77, on June 24, 2001 at Love Funeral Home in Central Barren and buried in the Central Barren Cemetery.

Harold Edwin Ellis was born on October 29, 1923 in Sac City, Iowa. He had a twin sister who died at birth. At a weight of two-and-one-half pounds, his mother placed him in a shoe box on the table top to raise him during the rural Iowa winter months of the 20’s. He was the son of Buelah (Buena Vista) Matherly Ellis and Omer Luard Ellis of Casey County, Kent., who later moved to a farm in Dows, Iowa from Sac City, Iowa. Omer died in September of 1961 at the age of 69 and Buelah died in September of 1972 at the age of 79.

Harold walked to school and recalled many times the witnessing of a run-over of fellow classmates by gangster, John Dillanger. He played the clarinet in band and then graduated from the Dows, Iowa High School in 1943 and later married Velda Wilder and operated a farm in Dows. He moved to Riceville, Iowa and continued to operate a farm where his daughter, Nylene of two years of age, drowned. The marriage of Velda and Harold ended in divorce.

On June 17, 1953 in Bellmond, Iowa, Harold married Doris Genevieve Wolfe of Central Barren, Ind. and they lived and operated the farm in Riceville, Iowa. Edwin Leland Ellis was born in 1954 and Charlotte Ann Ellis was born in 1956. In 1964, Harold and his family sold the farm and moved to Central Barren, Ind. Harold continued to farm at Central Barren- and also did custom work and worked at the Wennings Packing Company. He operated a Holstein dairy for over 30 years and was a carpenter and welder. He had been in ill health since March of 2000.

Harold is survived by his wife, Doris; son, Edwin of Central Barren; daughter, Charlotte of New Albany, two brother-in-laws of Central Barren, Robert and Darrell Wolfe. Also surviving are younger brothers, Raymond Ellis of Graham, Washington, Donald Ellis of Dows, Iowa, and Luard La Verne Ellis of Grandview, Missouri.

Preceding him in death besides his sister, parents and daughter, Nylene, is an older brother, James Robert Ellis of Owatonna, Minn., and sister-in-law, Carmen June Wolfe Ollis of Palmvra. Ind.

Source: Riceville Recorder; July 5, 2001 Page 11
from Elma library collection assembled by Marian (Marr) McGee
Transcribed by ABBYY FineReader® 12, Adapted to the Web by Bill Waters