Wanda Ellis

WANDA BEATRICE SMART ELLIS of Longview passed away on December 1st, 2024, at the age of 96. She was born on February 16, 1928, to Marion Oliver Smart and Hattie Jane Coburn Smart in Wetumka, Oklahoma. She moved to White Oak, Texas, with her parents when she was 8 years old. She graduated from White Oak High School in 1946. She briefly lived in California but moved back to East Texas to reside in Gladewater and then Longview for the rest of her days.

Wanda volunteered at Good Shepherd Hospital for 20 years in the Classicare program. She also was recognized by two blood banks for donating over 50 gallons of blood and platelets. In the last decade of her life, she attended St. Michael and All Angels’ Episcopal Church on Reel Road. She will be remembered by those who knew her for her quick wit and honest opinions. She had a unique sense of humor, too! She loved singing all the old gospel hymns that she grew up singing. She loved the Gaithers and had many of their LPs.

Wanda was preceded in death by her children Sheri Ellis Houston and Charles Ellis and their father Marvin Ellis. She is survived by one son, Wayne Smart, and one grandson, Hardy Houston, Sr., and two great-grandchildren, Nicolette Houston and Hardy Houston, Jr., all of Conroe.

Following her wishes, there will not be a burial service, but she will be entombed next to her beloved son Charles in the Chapel of Peace at Lakeview Memorial Gardens on Wednesday, December 11, at 2:00 PM.