Mary Ellis Tanner

Mary Ellis (Ellie) Grace Tanner, born June 11, 2004, passed away peacefully at her home on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. Ellie was a very active student during her 12 years at UMS-Wright, serving as a class officer, Middle School cheerleader, varsity basketball player, and as a part of the Homecoming Court. She was a member of Beta Sigma Chi social sorority and was also active in Young Life Mobile. In July of 2020, Ellie suffered cardiac arrest brought on by the effects of COVID-19. We are forever grateful to the doctors and nurses of Children's and Women's Hospital PICU who cared for Ellie with such skill and compassion, including Dr. Clint Howard and Dr. John LeDoux who worked tirelessly to help in Ellie's miraculous recovery. Her paternal aunt Windi Allen (husband Greg, children Tanner and Taylor Allen) is a nurse at the hospital as well. Ellie was known for her kindness, inclusivity of all, her infectious laugh and smile. She loved spending time in Orange Beach and on Mobile Bay. Ellie had the ability to bring people together. She fiercely loved her St. Paul's, McGill-Toolen, Bayside Academy and her Tuscaloosa friends. She was a leader with a kind heart who encompassed the ability to overcome every obstacle that came her way. Ellie's faith, her love for her friends, and, most importantly, her love for her family and brothers and sisters will forever be her legacy. She leaves behind her mother, Molly Bridget Votel Tanner, her older sisters, Molly Addison (Addy) and Emma Elizabeth, her younger brothers, William David and Thomas Richard (T-Tom), her beloved maternal grandparents, Richard and Susan Votel of Saint Paul, Minnesota, uncles and aunts, Rick and Ann Votel, Tracy Votel, Patrick and Gina Votel, cousins Henry, Katie, Ryan, Bridget, Jacob and Jack Votel and an army of extended Votel family in Minnesota. She was preceded in death by her cousin, Alyssa Lynn Votel and her cousin Beth Ann Lundin. She also leaves behind her paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Wayne Tanner, Sr. of Semmes, Alabama, and their extended family. A Celebration of Life will be held Monday, June 21, at 1 p.m. at The Steeple in downtown Mobile. Donations in her name can be made to support those organizations near and dear to Ellie and her family's heart: Young Life Mobile, JH Ranch and PICU Children's and Women's University Hospital.