Elaine M. Ellis

Elaine was born March 11, 1923, in Brookline, MA, the only child of Regina Petit and Daniel McCarthy. Daniel died of tuberculosis when Elaine was just three years old. Three years later, Regina married William S. “Bill” Herwitts and he became Elaine’s ‘Dad-for-Life’.

For many years, Elaine studied at the Boston Conservatory of Music, and was a professional dancer who took the stage name “Billie Layne,” combining both her and her Dad’s names. At the age of 16, Billie won the title of Miss Marshfield Fair and went on to be chosen runner-up for Miss Massachusetts in August 1940. She was awarded many modeling jobs, danced professionally at the legendary Coconut Grove in Boston’s famed Latin Quarter, and helped support her family during the Great Depression.

It was at the Coconut Grove on New Year’s Eve 1941, that Billie met the dashing Navy Lieutenant Bob Ellis - they bumped into each other in a revolving door. Bob asked her for a dance and she replied, “Well, you’ll have to wait until after the show.” Bob did wait, got his promised dance, and later that night Billie told her mother she met the man she could spend the rest of her life with. And that they did. Married on August 8th 1942, they enjoyed a deep and abiding love for just shy of 69 years. And they danced every chance they could.

Billie and Bob enjoyed a life of service and travel for 23 years in the U.S. Navy. Their highlight tour of duty was three years in Paris, France. After Bob retired, the family moved to Northampton, MA, where Bob became the Treasurer and Controller of Smith College from 1965-1987. During those years, Billie became known as a great hostess, entertaining with wit, charm, grace and beauty. Friends remember her as a great lady who never failed to capture hearts. Billie also volunteered at the Cooley Dickinson Hospital, as well as the local hospice shop.

In 1997, they moved to the Lathrop Retirement Community in Easthampton, MA, and enjoyed their time there until Bob’s death on Father’s Day 2011. Two weeks later, Lee and his husband Joe, brought Billie to live near them in Boulder, CO, at Sunrise Assisted Living. At age 88, she underwent a total knee replacement and settled into a ‘new way of life’ making many new friends and enjoying telling stories of her younger days. While it was incredibly hard for her to live out her last four and a half years without Bob, Billie always said, “I’m a Navy Wife, I can do anything.” And that, she most certainly did.

Billie was not just a homemaker -- she was a life-saver. During World War II, she overheard someone at the Coconut Grove club bragging about a ship setting sail that night. Remembering that “loose lips sink ships,” Billie relayed what she heard to a reporter friend. Days later she received a call from a War Department official who told her that the ship had been targeted for destruction by the enemy and her information had saved the lives of all aboard.

Just months after Billie “hung up her dancing shoes,” the Coconut Grove was the scene of the deadliest nightclub fire in history. Billie and others testified at the trial that the performers (including many of her old friends) were locked in the basement dressing rooms “for their own safety,” and the only door that was not locked was the small door at the front entrance of the club upstairs. Their testimonies helped to bring about new fire safety regulations that we see today.

Billie was a beautiful woman, both inside and out. She created a loving home for her family and was someone who always thought of others before herself. She made a difference in this world and will live in our hearts forever. Bob’s 50th wedding Anniversary tribute says it best: “A person of grace, amiability, impeccable integrity, instant kindness, and selective tolerance; my friend and my wife for more than fifty years; and I thank whatever Gods may be, that this good fortune came to me.”

Billie’s family cherishes the thought that their parents are together again. In fact, she passed just in time for a dance with her beloved in the heavenly ballroom on New Year’s Eve, the anniversary of the night they met, when kismet brought them together in a revolving door, and life changed forever for them both.

Billie was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Robert Lee Ellis, Sr., and grandson Ryan Tucker Ellis.

Billie is survived by her son and daughter-in-law Robert Lee Ellis, Jr. (Rear Admiral, USN, Retired) and Candace Engen Ellis of Davidson, N.C; daughter and son-in-law Carolyn Lee Ellis Hopgood and Marvin Theodore Hopgood, Jr. (Major General, USMC, Retired) of College Station, TX; son and husband Lee Geoffrey Ellis and Joseph Gerard James of Boulder, CO; grandson and wife Hunter and Meredith Ellis and their children, Parish and Bourne of Austin, TX; granddaughter Storey Ellis Robins and her children, Caden and Lochlan, of Cornelius, NC; granddaughter Jennifer Hopgood of Austin, TX; granddaughter and husband Katherine Hopgood Teague and Barry Michael Teague and their children, Michael and Elizabeth, of Plano, TX; cousin Gladys Chandler; sister-in-law Carol Ellis; and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 16th at 2:00 PM at Sunrise Assisted Living Community, 3955 28th Street in Boulder, CO. At a later date, burial will be at the Massachusetts Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery in Agawam, MA.

Billie’s family wishes to thank her doctors, Compassionate Hospice, and all the caregivers at Sunrise Assisted Living, who helped make her final years the best they could possibly be. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Humane Society of Boulder County. Oh, how she loved her animals!