Everett Ellis

Everett L. ELLIS Everett Lincoln Ellis was born on a farm in Kent, WA 13 May, 1919 and died at the age of 86, 1 July, 2005, of a heart attack at his home in Shoreline, Washington. As a baby he moved from the family homestead near Snoqualmie Pass to rural Aurora Avenue and attended Ronald Grade School, then Lincoln High School, graduating on the Senior Honor Roll in 1936. He was active in Boy Scouts, Chief Seattle Council Troop 324, being the first to earn the Eagle Scout Rank in the troop. He graduated with honors in 1941 from the University of Washington, School of Forest Resources. He met Eva Johnson, his future wife, at a committee meeting of university leaders who were planning construction of the Husky Union Building (HUB). He earned a Master of Science degree from Michigan State University in 1942. In 1943 he was "4f'ed" out of the selective service so supported the WWII effort by continuing his research on bonding agents for Military aircraft for the Borden Company in New York. He returned to Seattle for Christmas in 1943 where he proposed to Eva, before the Lutefisk, on Christmas Eve. They were subsequently married in Bainbridge, NY on 1 May, 1944. He became a Scoutmaster in NY and was active in Girl and Boy Scouts until he died. He continued to express his love of music by singing in a church choir and was also an active member of the volunteer fire brigade. Everett taught at the University of Idaho from 1946 to 1956 in the College of Forestry. He earned a PhD from the University of Washington, School of Forest Resources, in 1956. He was Associate Professor in the School of Natural Resources, University of Michigan, from 1956 to 1965. While at the University of Michigan he received a National Science Foundation Grant for a comprehensive international study of wood products education and authored the book Education of Wood Science and Technology. In 1965 he took a position as the director of the Forest Products Research Laboratory and professor of Forest Products at Oregon State University. Being of an adventurous spirit, he, with Eva's consent, accepted the Endowed Chair in Forest Products at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand where he remained until his retirement in 1985. He and Eva then moved to North Beach, Seattle, WA. He was subsequently made Professor Emeritus, College of Forest Resources, University of Washington and continued to do some teaching. He also was a consultant and expert witness on the identification and structure of wood. He could identify a genus and species from a single cell sample or the shape of a tree on a hillside. Everett will be sorely missed in his community. In his retirement he was active on the Shoreline Museum Board and Richmond Beach Community Council, and in Boy Scouts, Rotary, Probus, and the Christian Science Church. Professionally he kept active as editor of "Old Growth", and through his memberships in the Society of Wood Science and Technology, Forest Products Research Society, International Wood Collectors Society, International Society of Wood Anatomists, and the Society of American Foresters. We will miss him greatly, his rhyming poetry, and his music. Everett is survived by his three daughters, Karin, Myrriah, and Hildy, his son, Erik, his ten grandchildren and one great-granddaughter, his dog, Tasha, and his extended family. A Celebration of his Life will be held at 4:00 p.m. at Richmond Beach Congregational Church, UCC, 1512 NW 195th St., Shoreline, WA. Remembrances may be made in lieu of flowers to the Everett Lincoln Ellis Memorial Scholarship. Please make checks out to the University of Washington, noting for memoriam for Everett Ellis. Send to Development, College of Forest Resources, Box 352100, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.