Ellis Austin

Ellis Austin, 73, of East Grand Forks, Minnesota, passed away at home with his family by his side on Friday, February 6th, 2026.

Ellis Arnold Austin was born on October 17th, 1952 in Grand Forks, North Dakota, to parents, Marvin & Alva (Olson) Austin. He grew up in Grand Forks and graduated from Red River High School. He served in the US Army from 1972-1974 and attended Northland Technical College. In October of 1974, the day after being honorably discharged from the US Army, he met the love of his life, Joy McLean. They were united in marriage on July 19th, 1975 at Grace Lutheran Church in Grygla, Minnesota and became the proud parents of Eric, Darrin and Andrea. Ellis & Joy briefly lived in both Cooperstown, ND, and Grand Forks, ND, before settling in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, for the last 46 years.

Ellis was dedicated first and foremost to family in addition to loving classic cars. He worked for Simplot for 32 years as a safety manager, among other roles. After Simplot, he continued working and was a facility manager at the River Cities Speedway for 11 years. Ellis always had a love of cars, especially classic cars. He spent a lot of time at car shows and working on cars including those he built for each of his children. He was part of a group of car guys that created the Lazy 8 Restoration Club. He was very proud of his work and estimated that he had built or worked on over 200 cars in his life.

In recent years, Ellis enjoyed camping and attending music events, such as Blues On The Red. Most of all, he loved his family. He was always supportive of his kids' and grandkids' activities. Ellis will be dearly missed.

He is survived by his wife, Joy Austin; son, Eric (Amanda) Austin; son-in-law, Christopher Novak; grandchildren, Felicity (Zach) Schneekloth, Heath Austin, Ella Austin and Anna Austin, Eleanor Novak and Gloria Novak; great-grandchildren, Malcolm Schneekloth and Julien Schneekloth; siblings and in-laws, Bill Marshall, Bonnie (David) Schneider, Mary Peterson, and Miles (Richard Vanden-Eykel) Austin; and nieces & nephews.

Ellis was preceded in death by his son, Darrin Austin; daughter, Andrea Novak; parents, Marvin & Alva Austin; sister, Ellen Marshall; nephew, Shawn Marshall; and brother-in-law, Rich Peterson.

VISITATION begins at 10:00 AM, with a MEMORIAL SERVICE at 11:00 AM, on Thursday, February 12th, 2026 at Our Savior's Lutheran Church, 1515 5th Ave NW, East Grand Forks, Minnesota.

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