Dr. Richard George Ellis

1922 - 2018

PETERBOROUGH -- Richard George Ellis was born May 14, 1922, son of Elton Elwin and Grace (Barnhart) Ellis in Frankford, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Audubon High School; Audubon, New Jersey, in 1939, matriculated at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania and completed the required undergraduate premedical study in three years. He then entered Hahnemann Medical College and graduated in June 1945, in a pilot program that completed the four years of medical study in three by eliminating all summer vacations. Dr. Ellis interned at the Huron Road Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio; went on active duty with the MC USNR. After two years, he was released to inactive duty (Lt MC USNR) and entered the study of anesthesiology at Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital in Philadelphia. Following three years of study, he was appointed to the medical staff at Memorial Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1954, Dr. Ellis created the Department of Anesthesiology at the Henry Heywood Hospital in Gardner, Massachusetts, chairing the department until 1984. He retired fully (and prematurely) in 1986, essentially a victim of the unconscionable liability insurance premiums and system. In 1988 he and his wife, Marilyn, moved to Jaffrey.

While in Gardner, Dr. Ellis served a term as president of the Medical Staff of the Henry Heywood Memorial Hospital, 10 years on the Board of Trustees of the First Congregational Church and in 1986 was listed as one of a hundred individuals who had made the most important contributions to the City of Gardner. He was an incorporator of the Heywood Hospital, a Diplomat of the American Board of Anesthesiology, Fellow of the American College of Anesthesiologist, Member of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, Massachusetts Society of Anesthesiologists, American Medical Association, Massachusetts Medical Association, Worcester North District Medical. He was a member of the United Church of Jaffrey and F&AM #218, Audubon, New Jersey.

He and his wife were avid sailors and alpine skiers well into their eighties. They enjoyed traveling, Elderhostel and hiking. Dr. Ellis was a fly fisherman, gardener and woodworker. He and his wife together and separately volunteered on local projects and were active in the United Church of Jaffrey.

Following the death of Marilyn in 2006, Dr. Ellis moved to Concord, New Hampshire briefly. Later he joined his daughter Sarah, spending his last six years living together with her in Lyndeborough and Peterborough.

Dr. Ellis is survived by his son, Richard Ellis and his wife, Carol; his daughter Sarah Ellis, granddaughter Rebecca Casinghino and her husband, Derek, and granddaughter Lois Bankert as well as six great-grandchildren: Aiden, Braylon and Cole, and Ruby, Summer and Isabella.

A Funeral Service held will be held on Saturday, June 16, 2018 at 11 a.m. in the United Church of Jaffrey, 54 Main Street, Jaffrey, NH. Burial will be a later date in the Maplewood Cemetery, Antrim, NH next to his beloved wife Marilyn.

In lieu flowers, the family requests donations be made to Shelter from the Storm, Jaffrey, NH; the Jaffrey Food Pantry, and the Emergency Fund at the United Church of Jaffrey.

To share memory or offer a condolence with Dr. Richard Ellis' family please visit his permanent online memorial page at www.cournoyerfh.com