Eloise S. Ellis

Eloise Ellis, 92, passed away peacefully on Sunday, December 11, 2022 at Palm Garden of Jacksonville. She is now with her high school sweetheart again, Bill, who passed away in December of 2017, after 69 years of marriage.

Eloise was born and raised in Jacksonville, FL, graduating from Andrew Jackson High School in 1948 where she played saxophone in the band. She and Bill married right after her graduation, and lived in Jacksonville and the surrounding area their whole lives. Eloise was a member of Eastern Star for over fifty years and was active in the Andrew Jackson Alumni Association "Jacks and Jills" for even longer.

Though Eloise was primarily a housewife and homemaker when her children were young, she also worked many different jobs throughout her career. She began as a secretary with the Boys Home of Florida, and worked as a court stenographer, a secretary in schools her children attended, and was an extremely accomplished seamstress her whole adult life. Her last job before retirement was as a secretary for the intramural athletic department at University of Florida.

Faith and church played a prominent role in Eloise and Bill's lives, and they brought their children up in the same way, beginning at Main Street Baptist church in the 1950's. They hosted many fellowship gatherings for the youth of the church, and devoted many hours to them. While Bill served as a deacon and usher, Eloise was very active in Cradle Roll - enrolling new babies into the church family. Eloise and Bill were most recently members of Deer Meadows Baptist Church, where they sang in the Senior Choir, and were always game for travelling with the Seniors on various trips.

Eloise loved her gardening, and feeding her blue birds by hand. She maintained and grew a staghorn fern (inherited from her mother) for so many years that it eventually weighed well over 200 pounds! When she moved from her last home into assisted living, the staghorn fern was broken up into pieces by the new homeowners, and gifted to people all over Jacksonville. Just like all the volunteering and helping hands she reached out with over the years, the memories of Eloise's impact on friends, family and strangers will live on.

Eloise's surviving family members are her daughter, Alice Jane Herbert, and son, William Earl Ellis, Jr. Grandchildren include Brian, Timothy, Jennifer and Jonathan. She is also survived by three sisters-in-law: Betty Ellis, Peggy Ellis, and Carol Bogardus.

Viewing will take place on Monday, December 19th, 10-12 am at Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home, 11801 San Jose Blvd. Procession from the funeral home will leave at noon, for an interment service at 1:30 pm at Jacksonville National Cemetery.