Elizabeth Ann Ellis
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Elizabeth Ann (Kearney) Ellis, passed away on April 22, 2022, in Fredericksburg, Texas, at the age of 81.
Beth, as she was known to just about everyone, was born on July 17, 1940, in Devils Lake, North Dakota, to Robert Emmett Kearney and Gertrude Rachel Nichols. She was the youngest of their ten children and, after her mother's death at a young age, grew up with her aunt and uncle, Mary "Eleanor" and Ed Hoch, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her cousins, Winnie and Catherine, became her life-long 'sisters' and Minneapolis her adoptive home.
Beth entered college at St. Catherine's in Minneapolis, but her studies were interrupted by her soon-to-be husband, James Ellis, from Texas. Beth and 'Jim' were married June 10, 1961, in Minneapolis and moved down to Texas to start their life together. Her first child, David, was born the following year in Austin. Work took the family to Salt Lake City for a couple of years, where their second child, Virginia (Ginger) was born. Returning to Texas, they settled down in Friendswood, bought their first house, and had their third (and final) child, Kevin.
Beth was always a lover of animals, especially horses. She spent her free time at the barn or the pasture spoiling her horse and meeting people that would become life-long friends. There was always a dog and at least one cat at the house and her love of animals went so far as to tolerate the pet snakes, frogs, and other miscellaneous creatures that her children sometimes kept.
After more than a decade in Friendswood, the family moved up to Georgetown and built a house on five acres, allowing Beth to keep her horse (and some chickens) in the 'backyard', along with the requisite cats and dog. Beth returned to college while in Georgetown and finished her degree in education at Southwestern University. As the kids grew and Beth had more time, she took a job working at the Austin American Statesman in the classifieds, a job that was a natural fit for her always friendly demeanor and seemingly endless patience.
After the kids were out of the house and Jim retired, Beth and Jim moved to the Fredericksburg area and fell in love with Border Collies, starting with a single pet but progressing to several competition dogs. Sheep are necessary to train Border Collies, so they maintained a small flock of herding sheep and a few wool sheep. Of course, there was always a cat or two and sometimes a llama. Beth turned out to be as adept at spoiling sheep as she had been at spoiling horses, so her fleeces always did well at the county fair. She learned to spin the wool, which she never could do quite to her satisfaction, but the spinning group she was a part of was much more important than the yarn they spun.
Beth is preceded in death by her husband, Jim; her parents, and nine siblings: Kathryn, Kenneth, Mary Cecilia, Dorothy, Paul, Robert, Kathleen, Edward, and Charles.
She is survived by her three children ? David Ellis, Ginger Ellis-Wilson, and Kevin Ellis ? as well as six grandchildren ? Bethany Kennell, Nathan Schulze, Joseph Schulze, Lee Schulze, Erin Ellis, and Shannon Ellis ? and five great-grandchildren.
A rosary will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, May 20, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Fredericksburg, Texas, followed by a service at 11 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Hill Country Memorial Hospital (www.hillcountrymemorial.org/foundation/foundation-for-hcm/give-now/ ) or Meals on Wheels (goldenhub.org/meals-on-wheels/).