Ivol Marie Ellis

Ivol Marie Ellis, 93, passed away on Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at the home of her daughter, Linda Ellis, in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

Born August 26, 1927, she was the daughter of the late Charles Ferguson and Stella Werner Ferguson.

She had lived with Linda for a little more than 3 years, and they enjoyed doing many things together.  During that time, she made a lot of friends in the area.  She would tag along with Linda when she did her work with the Boys Home and touched many boys’ lives there, as well as doing volunteer work at the church they attended in Hagerstown, MD.

Ivol was a former resident of Springfield, Pueblo, and Mosca, Colorado. Her family and friends will remember her wonderful giving friendship and kindness.  She enjoyed gardening, cooking, sewing, and raising her family.  She especially loved to teach others how to accomplish those life skills. She was certified as a Master Gardener twice and always had a large garden, canned vegetables to use and share, as well as making seasonal flower centerpieces from her flower beds for the churches she attended. She was interviewed by local newspapers regularly featuring her recipes and how-to’s for homemaking skills, which often resulted in phone calls from complete strangers asking her to solve their cooking, sewing, freezing or canning problems. She always took the time to help them; and did it with kindness and patience as if they were best friends.

She was always very appreciative of anything she had and was daily contented; but a later in life request surfaced that she had wanted to go to Hawaii ever since they had read about it in grade school before it was a state. That dream trip was realized in 2016 when her son, Larry and daughter, Janet accompanied her to the big island where she went snorkeling at the age of 89! She saw the volcano, picked orchids, visited a macadamia farm and enjoyed a luau where she learned how to stich a lei with the state's hibiscus flower.

She was always up for a challenge whether it was to make a wedding dress for someone, drive a large truck or a wheat combine to help her husband with his business. One year she helped him run a spudnut shop in Colorado Springs, in addition to taking care of 5 young kids, often by herself when her husband was out of town. If she needed to figure out the subway system in Chicago while visiting her daughter there or navigating a stick-shift car in Chicago traffic, she could do it without drama.  Later in life she did a lot of traveling and got her first passport in 2018 to attend her granddaughter Kyndall's wedding in the Bahamas. She went to Vancouver island and Canada for trips and regularly to Arizona on vacation.  She really enjoyed life; and will be missed by so many.

She is survived by son, Larry Alan Ellis of Garden City, KS; daughters Marilyn Ellis Scarborough (Scott) of Montrose, CO; Linda Ellis of Martinsburg, WV; Janet Ellis of San Leandro, CA; Darla Ellis Pino (Floyd) of Pueblo, CO; two brothers—Delmar Ferguson of Kansas City, KS and Willard Ferguson of Haviland, KS; sister Beulah (Ferguson) McKinney of Wichita, KS; seven grandchildren; and five great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband G. Alvin Ellis; daughter, Deborah Jeanne Ellis; brothers Wendell, Charles and Floyd Ferguson; and sister Drula (Ferguson) McKinney.

Services will be held at Maltbie Funeral Home in Springfield, Colorado at 1 pm on Wednesday December 16, 2020; with interment in Springfield cemetery immediately following.