Frederick Herbert Ellis III

ELLIS, Frederick Herbert, III - Known as Fred, entered peacefully into rest surrounded by his loving family on August 31, 2005 after a long struggle with kidney disease. He was 39. He graduated from Skyline High School in Oakland in 1985 and received his bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley in 1991. Fred led a courageous lifelong battle against kidney disease. He received a kidney transplant at the age of 15 in 1981, when organ transplants were not common practice. Returning from Costa Rica in the late 1990s, where he had been teaching grade school students, his transplanted kidney failed and he spent his final years on dialysis. He loved dogs, cats, art, math, magic, nature, games, sports and especially the Oakland Raiders and Oakland A's. He is survived by his mother, Mary Lou Ellis of Oakland; his father, Rick Ellis of Costa Rica; his sisters, Libby Ellis of Los Angeles, Heather Ellis and her children Daniel and Sonia, and Rachel Hurtubise, all of Oakland. He is also survived by his grandmother, Mary Ellen Murray of Freeport, Illinois. A Memorial Service and Interment will take place in his birthplace of Freeport, Illinois. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the United Network for Organ Sharing, www.unos.org.