Ethel Ellison, 89, Remembered as a Witty Storyteller Who Embraced Family

Ethel Ellison, the mother of Royal Oak Mayor Jim Ellison, was a storyteller.

Born in Winnipeg, MA, Canada to British parents, Ellison had plenty of family history to share and enjoyed telling humorous stories about her everyday experiences.

As her six children gathered around her this week, they told their own stories about Ethel Ellison. Ellison died peacefully at her family home in Royal Oak on Wednesday after battling ovarian cancer for five years. She was 89 years old.

Those children described their mother as a witty, feisty woman who loved entertaining people. “She was very clever with her language and made many people laugh," said her daughter, Jacqueline Beecher, of Madison, WI.

Busy volunteer created home 'filled with life'

Mayor Ellison said his mother was living at the center in Royal Oak when the family decided to move her home Sunday under hospice care. She was a 62-year resident of Royal Oak.

Ethel Ellison raised her family in a house on Murdock Street that her late husband, James Arthur Ellison, built in the 1950s. Beecher said her mother took pride in the home and growing up the house was "filled with life."

Ethel Ellison didn't work outside the home much during her life, but still found time to volunteer in the community. "She was very proud of the fact that she stayed home and raised her kids," Mayor Ellison said.

She was a volunteer at , a member of a Royal Oak Elks auxiliary group and the Altar Guild Episcopal Churches.

Ethel Ellison also enjoyed the Florida sun. She and her husband, James, had a condo in West Palm Beach that they would visit in the winter and return to Michigan in the spring. When she wasn't traveling, Ethel Ellison and her husband embraced the outdoors, taking walks and bike rides often.

A supportive mother

Ellison said that after he was elected mayor in 2003, his mother stopped referring to him as her son and called him "the mayor." She was invested in his passion for politics. One of her favorite things to watch on TV were the City Commission meetings that air on the public access channel, he said.

"She was proud of me … and my accomplishments," the mayor said.

Supporting and spending time with her children was important to Ethel Ellison. Beecher said she'd often go shopping with her daughters and try on clothes. "She had a very particular sense of taste," Beecher said.

Late life struggles

The years before her death were tough. Mayor Ellison said his mother underwent two chemotherapy treatments and her physical activity was limited.

"She was very frustrated," Ellison said. "She had to walk with a walker, she suddenly became inactive."

But Ellison was a fighter. "She really was about surviving," Beecher said. "The hardest thing for her was to give up."

Funeral services

Ethel Ellison is survived by her children, Judith Ellison of Royal Oak; Jacqueline Ethel (Les) Beecher of Madison, WI; Patricia (David) Byrne of Crystal River, FL; Diane (Bruce) Habel of Houston; Jim (Jodie) Ellison of Royal Oak, and David (Joan) Ellison of Olympia, WA; siblings, Grace Pank of Clawson and Bob Tasker of Royal Oak; 17 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, James Arthur Ellison, on Jan. 13, 2008. They married in 1941 at in Royal Oak.

Visitation is set for 2-8 p.m. Friday at the . There will be a funeral service at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. David's Episcopal Church, 16200 W. 12 Mile Rd. in Southfield and a burial at in Royal Oak.

The family welcomes memorial donations to the .