Lois Maurie (Bevan) Ellis was born the daughter of Floyd and Grace (Gregg) Bevan on Oct. 3, 1921, in Hugoton, KS. She went to be with the Lord on Dec. 4, 2025, in Bellingham, WA. A memorial service was held Tuesday, Dec. 9, at the Hillcrest Church, Bellingham, WA. Private interment was at Enterprise Cemetery.
Surviving are son Keith (Elizabeth) Ellis of Sully; son-in-law Floyd (Paula) Kintzel of Ganfield, AR; daughters Eva (Dennis) Headrick of Newberg, OR, Trish (Daryl) Whiteman of Atlanta, KS, and Sandy Nace of Ferndale, WA; 29 grandchildren; 50 great-grandchildren; 13 great-great-grandchildren; and many other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by Vern her husband of 59 years, her daughter Joyce, and all of her seven siblings.
Lois attended grade school in Hugoton, KS, where in eighth grade she was the valedictorian of her class. With her family, Lois moved to Center, CO, where she graduated from high school. Sept. 1, 1940, she married Vern Ellis, and they lived on a farm growing potatoes and raising pigs, sheep, and chickens. Keith, Joyce, and Eva joined the family during this time. In 1948, Vern and Lois felt a call to full-time Christian service, sold the farm, and moved to Haviland, KS, to get the training they needed at Friends Bible College.
Lois sat in on all the Bible classes she could as well as raising three children. In the spring of 1950, they were called to pastor at Springbank Friends Church just outside of Allen, NE. It was a farming community, so Lois kept very busy with a big garden, calling with Vern on the people in the community, and taking care of her family, which had been joined by Trish and Sandy.
In 1955, Vern and Lois were asked to go to the mission at Rough Rock, AZ, to minister to the Navajo Indians. Lois loved working with the people, and even now 39 years after they left Rough Rock, she received two to three phone calls and four to five letters weekly.
After retiring and visiting each of their children and grandchildren wherever they were living, they pastored a church in Penrose, CO, for nine years and then settled in Ferndale close to Sandy.
Lois was a woman who loved the Lord above all, always wore a smile, and kept going no matter what happened. Her prayer every morning was, “God, please show me who I can bless today.” She is loved and will be missed by anyone who knew her.
