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Henry Day Ellis ’34

Henry Day Ellis ’34, December 5, 1994, in Spokane, Washington. After graduation, Hank spent a year doing postgraduate work in Spanish American history at the University of California, Berkeley. Following several years of work with a gold dredging company in the Boise Basin of Idaho, he became interested in pursuing the Catholic priesthood. In 1937, he entered the Grand Seminaire at Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, but left his studies in 1939 as the war approached. He continued to study for the priesthood at the Los Angeles Archdiocese Seminary at Camarillo, California. In 1940, he moved to Wallace, Idaho, to resume mining work with the family company, Day Mining Company. He was a director of that company until his retirement and handled much of the investment work for the business. Hank continued to study monasticism and spent considerable time studying with the Benedictine Abbey at Mt. Angel, Oregon. He owned property on Shaw Island, in the San Juan Islands, Washington, where he spent his summers and planned to established a Benedictine Priory. He was supportive of Reed College and with his siblings, including Robert Ellis Jr. ’37 and Frederick Ellis ’38, contributed the Robert H. and Blanche Day Ellis Professorship. He was also a committed environmentalist. He is survived by his brother, Frederick, and a sister.

Appeared in Reed magazine: February 1995

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