Lisa J Ellis

Lisa Jean Ellis was born March 10, 1966 to Clifton and Joyce Ellis in Omaha, NE. Twelve days after we got her home we had a blizzard and were living in an all-electric house with no heat. We went across the street where they also had a newborn and put them both in front of a gas oven. In April of that same year, we moved into the house she would grow up in. When she was 2, we joined an antique car club and she learned to appreciate various cars. When she was 2 or 3, we went to Grace Bible College to hear the choir do Handel's Messiah. She never made a peep during the program. When Lawrence Welk came on, she grabbed her one toy she could turn on its side and she would sit on it until the show was over. Lisa LOVED music. When she was 7 or 8, we took her to swim lessons and she just grabbed hold of that and started telling us she wanted to be in a swim club. After a few months we gave in. Her first swim meet was when she was 8 and she never quit. In grade school she took up playing trumpet and loved about every kind of music. Music and swimming became her things. At UNO she worked as a lifeguard and ended up playing lead trumpet in the band. One year Doc Severinsen was at UNO and worked with the jazz band. She asked him to sign her case, as she played on his model of trumpet. He obliged. She spent her years working, coaching, swimming, running the Westside Swim Club, coaching high school, and helping kids through their school years in more ways than just swimming.

The following is a memory of Lisa by one of her former swimmers:

"Received some news this morning that I definitely did not want to get. I had a lot of different coaches in the decade plus that I was a swimmer, but Lisa cared about me as more than just a swimmer. She was invested in me and in every kid she worked with, far outside the pool. She loved swimming, but more than that, she saw it as a way that she could use that which she knew and loved to better the lives of so many kids, and that's exactly what she did. I am so lucky to have been able to call Lisa Jean Ellis a coach and a friend. May her memory be a blessing"

Lisa was preceded in death by her Mother, Joyce Ellis. She is survived by her father, Clifton Ellis, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

A memorial visitation for Lisa will be held Friday, January 12, 2024 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at First United Methodist Church of Omaha, 7020 Cass St, Omaha, Nebraska 68132. A memorial service will occur Saturday, January 13, 2024 at 10:30 AM at First United Methodist Church of Omaha.