IT WAS A FEW DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS IN 1939 WHEN HENRY FRANCISCO ELLIS WAS BORN TO H. C. (SKINNY) ELLIS AND DELCIA (RUSH) ELLIS AT THE ELLIS FAMILY HOME IN CADDO, OKLA. HENRY DEPARTED JUNE 7, 2021, IN SHERMAN, TEXAS, AFTER AN EXTENDED ILLNESS, AT THE AGE OF 81 YEARS.
HENRY’S EARLY YEARS IN CADDO NURTURED HIS LOVE FOR HUNTING AND FISHING AND ANCHORED BONDS AND LIFE LONG FRIENDSHIPS THAT GREW AND REMAINED STRONG. HIS “MOMA ELLIS” WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS PROUD CHOCTAW BLOOD, AND ALONG WITH HIS AUNTS, ALSO INFLUENCED HIS VALUES, CHARACTER, WORK ETHIC AND TALENTS. THEY LIKELY WERE INFLUENTIAL WITH HENRY’S DETERMINATION TO ENSURE THAT ALL OF HIS “TRADING” AND “DEALING” WAS ABSOLUSTELY FAIR CONCERNING OTHERS.
AFTER GRADUATING FROM CADDO HIGH SCHOOL, HENRY BEGAN SUPPORTING HIMSELF, ATTENDING COLLEGE CLASSES AS HE WAS ABLE. DURING THAT TIME, HE WAS DRAFTED AND SERVED OUR COUNTRY IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY AS A MILITARY POLICEMAN.
AFTER AN HONORABLE DISCHARGE, HE RETURNED TO CADDO AND HIS STUDIES AT SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY WHERE HE COMPLETED HIS BACHELOR OF ARTS DEGREE IN ACCOUNTING. UPON GRADUATION, HENRY WAS AWARDED THE WALL STREET JOURNAL AWARD.
HENRY CELEBRATED 54 YEARS OF MARRIAGE WITH HIS DEVOTED BRIDE, DONNA WORTHY ELLIS WHO SURVIVES, ALONG WITH THEIR TWO SONS BILLY OF DURANT, AND CHARLEY AND WIFE CHRISTI OF MADILL; ALSO SURVIVING IS ONE GRANDDAUGHTER KOURTNEY DENKELER AND HUSBAND MAX; GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTERS, KATHERINE AND HATTIE DENKELER, LONGVIEW, TEXAS; SISTER, MAURICE GUDGEL OF DURANT AND NIECE, SERENA AND HUSBAND JEREMIAH BEASLEY, OF RIUESDO, N.M.
AFTER WORKING AS AN ACCOUNTANT FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, HENRY STEPPED AWAY FROM THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION AND BEGAN THE WORK OF AN ARTISAN. HE EMBRACED HIS ARTISTIC GIFT AS HE DESIGNED AND CREATED SPURS AND BITS THAT WERE ACCLAIMED FOR THEIR WORKMANSHIP AND PERFECTION. SOME WERE VALUED FOR THEIR COLLECTABILITY AND OTHERS FOR THEIR FUNCTIONALITY. COWBOYS AND COLLECTORS ALIKE SOUGHT HENRY ELLIS SPURS. HIS WORK WAS EXCEPTIONAL, AND ADDITIONALLY, TO QUOTE ONE OF HIS SPUR BUDDIES, “HE WAS JUST A GOOD GUY.”
DUE TO THE FAMILY’S DESIRE TO RESPECTFULLY HONOR THE WISHES OF THEIR LOVED ONE, NO SERVICE IS PLANNED.
Services are under the direction of Holmes-Coffey-Murray Funeral Home in Durant, Okla. www.holmescoffeymurray.com