John Ellis

John A Ellis, born June 30, 1945, in Fresno California, passed away in the home he

designed and built in Placitas, New Mexico on November 26, 2024. He is survived by

his wife of 58 years, Carol Whitten Ellis, their daughter, Jennifer Ellis, her husband,

Brian Parks and their daughter, Maggie Parks. He is preceded in death by his brother,

Steven, sister Marcia Esparza and their parents Al and Evelyn Ellis.

John graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with both a Bachelor of Arts

degree and a Master of Architecture. He and Carol stayed in California for their

corporate careers, which included, for John, heading corporate architecture for Bank of

America and Pacific Gas & Electric. They then moved to New Mexico as Management

Consultants, writing and delivering training materials to improve the performance of

managers all over the United States.

While living in California, John went into kidney failure and was fortunate to receive a

donor kidney that lasted 40 years. Because he was given this gift of life from an

unknown family, he never took his health for granted and was very conscientious about

keeping himself healthy.

Moving to New Mexico offered John the opportunity to do two new activities he hadn’t

done before. One was to join the New Mexico Wood Turners club, in which he stayed

active learning, teaching, mentoring, and supporting the club members. He served on

their board for many years. It was during this time he also became active in the

American Association of Woodturners, an international woodturning organization,

serving on their board of directors. Woodturning was his passion, and as he did with

everything he enjoyed, he strived for and achieved perfection. The second was to see

the country in a motorhome. Together John and Carol traveled through at least 30

states to enjoy the beauty of the country in which they live.

His family will be holding a Celebration of Life soon. In lieu of flowers, donations can be

made to Donate Life America at www.donatelife.net/contribute. There are instructions

for mailing a check if you prefer. Also, because of the gift of life he received, his family

asks that you consider donating your organs upon your death so that someone else’s

life can be saved.