Annie Catherine (Dunn) Ellard went home to Jesus on Thanksgiving, November 24, 2022 at 8:50 p.m. She was born on April 13, 1927 to Hendrix G. and Dora Mae (Thompson) Dunn in Pine Valley, Mississippi. Catherine’s mother, Dora Mae, died on September 3, 1927. Hendrix’s other daughters were already married so he asked his sister, Mary Elizabeth, to raise Catherine. She was raised in the home of Mary and John Williams along with their three children.
Catherine attended school in Bruce, MS graduating from high school in 1945. She was trained as a nurse, graduating from Mobile City Hospital in 1948. After Registration in Alabama, she worked as a nurse in Mississippi, Kentucky, and Ohio. Catherine married her high school friend James Allen Ellard on November 6, 1949 and helped him complete his education while bearing five children, three of which survive beyond birth. She was a faithful wife and mother. In Ohio she became active as a leader in Christian ministry, helping in the planting of three Baptist churches, and became an active member of First Southern Baptist Church of Evansville when the family moved to Indiana in 1988.
She was preceded in death by her parents; siblings, and her foster parents and their children.
Catherine is survived by her husband, James A. Ellard; children, Catherine Ann Sullivan (Ray), James Allen Ellard, Jr. (Nancy), and Cecil Andrew Ellard; six grandchildren; seventeen great-grandchildren; and a half-sister, Idelle Duncan.
Funeral Services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 29, 2022 at First Southern Baptist Church with Pastor David Cullison officiating. Burial will follow at Alexander Memorial Park. Friends may visit on Monday from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Alexander East Chapel and on Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. until service time at the church. Catherine's service will be livestreamed, please visit the following link www.facebook.com/fsbcevansville.
Memorial contributions can be made to The Gideons International, 50 Century Boulevard, Nashville, Tennessee 37214 and First Southern Baptist Church, 25 South Cullen Avenue, Evansville, Indiana 47715.
Condolences may be offered at www.AlexanderEastChapel.com.
