Evelyn May Mcgee Ellis

Evelyn May McGee Ellis, beloved mother and friend, died peacefully at home in Portsmouth on Saturday July 13, at the age of 95. Evelyn was born in Sacramento, California on May 26, 1918. After graduating from Mission High School in San Francisco, and training at Cogswell Polytechnic Institute, Evelyn went to work for the Link Belt Company. In 1937 she married John Ellis of Salem, Massachusetts, a graduate of Dartmouth College. They made their home in a tiny cabin in Donner Pass, where they built and operated one of the first ski tows in California. World War II created a gas shortage and no one could use precious gas to drive to Donner Pass to ski, so Evelyn and John and two daughters relocated to the Napa Valley, where John engineered warships for the Navy until VJ Day 1945. The Ellis family then moved east, living successively in Pittsfield MA, Warrensburg NY, and Concord MA, adding four more children along the way.In 1970, the Ellis family moved to the Hummocks in Portsmouth RI, where they had been summering since 1963. They were members of Tiverton YC and raced the Candy boat "Peppermint" and International 420 "Little Dipper". Evelyn was Hostess at the Stone Bridge Inn in Tiverton and for many years at the Mount Hope Marina House on Bristol Ferry Road. She then served 15 years with the RI Dept of Children and Their Families in Newport. Upon retiring, she became a volunteer at the Portsmouth Multipurpose Senior Center where she was affectionately known as Evy.Evelyn was a member of Portsmouth United Methodist Church and a member of the church's Bell Choir. Evelyn leaves six children: Lee Matson of Seattle, Barbara Ellis of Miami, Stephen Ellis of New York City, Carol Ellis Menz of Alameda CA, David Ellis of Portsmouth and Stanley Ellis of Exeter NH. She also leaves 19 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at the Portsmouth United Methodist Church on Sunday July 21 at 2pm. Evelyn's ashes will buried in the McGee family plot in Sacramento alongside her brother William McGee, parents Charles 'Wally' and Ethel Frost McGee, and grandparents John and Mary Jane Osbourne McGee. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Potter League for Animals, PO Box 412, Newport RI 02840. All are welcome to share photos and memories.