Edward Bertis Ellis

Edward Bertis Ellis , beloved husband, father and grandfather, died unexpectedly on Feb 7, 2026.

Oldest son of Leonard Ellis and Reba Ruth Hambleton, Edward was born in Washington, DC June 20 1938, raised in Arlington VA, attended Washington- Lee High School where he was on the award-winning crew team, graduating with the Class of 1956. Edward then enlisted and served 3 years in the Army Dental Corp before earning a bachelor's degree in biology from Virginia Tech. He then joined the biomedical research team at Bionetics Research Laboratories where he met Linda Beadles with whom he shared almost 60 years of marriage. While working and raising a family in Rockville, MD, he earned an MBA at American University. He then embarked on a new career as a Grant's Management Specialist at NIAAA where he worked until his retirement in 2001.

Through their years together, he and Linda were involved in many ministries of St.James Episcopal Church and enjoyed spending time with family and friends. After retirement, the adventurous couple traveled in much of the world including Asia, Australia, Europe, and Scandinavia, as well as North and South America enjoying meeting people of different traditions as well as observing the flora and fauna of the natural world, especially bird watching.

Ed is survived by his wife and children Thomas, Charles and his wife Melissa, Peter, Emily and Katherine, and eight grandchildren whom he deeply loved and of whom he was immensely proud: Annalie, Samuel, Ainsley and Keira Ellis and Laurel, Sebastien, Elise and Jacob Zdan.

His parents and three brothers, Steve, Ronald and Roger, preceded him in death.

A Memorial Celebration of Life Service will be held at St. James Episcopal Church, Potomac MD at 11 AM on June 6, 2026.

Contributions in his honor may be sent to St. James Episcopal Church, 11815 Seven Locks Rd., Potomac, MD 20854.