James Ellis, of San Ramon, California, passed away peacefully with his family at his side on December 1, 2003 of complications from an accidental fall. He was 80 years old.

Born October 1, 1923 in Orting, Washington, Jim graduated from Miller Olympia High School and St. Martin's College in Lacey, Washington, and received his M.B.A. from Stanford University. He was one of 300 American students later selected to the "Marshall Plan in Action", touring Western Europe and evaluating the effects of Marshall Plan aid.

Jim proudly served in World War II as a First Lieutenant and B-24 bomber pilot in the 15th Army Air Force, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bronze Stars for commanding over 35 missions over France and Italy in 1944.

Jim worked as a sales representative for The Emporium in San Francisco until 1960, when he became Executive Vice-President of Janss Corporation Land Development in Thousand Oaks, California, managing the Conejo Village/Janss Mall, Los Robles Country Club, and other southern California development projects. In 1972 he became President of DiGiorgio Development Corporation in San Francisco, where among other projects he oversaw the development of the 2,500 acre Rams Hill Country Club in Borrego Springs, California.

He was a member of the Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks and the Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Lafayette. He was also a former member of the Board of Regents of California Lutheran College.

Above all, Jim was devoted to his family, and for over 30 years he and his wife faithfully attended his kids' football and baseball games at the Conejo Valley and San Ramon Valley Little Leagues, the Newbury Park and San Ramon High Schools, University of California at Berkeley, University of California at Los Angeles, and the St. Louis Cardinals organization. Family gatherings were his greatest passion.

Surviving to celebrate his life are his wife of 51 years, Audrey Ellis; children, Marcia Ellis and Peter Morse, of Seattle, Claudia and Steve Flanders, of San Jose, Calif., Scott and Janine Ellis, of Walnut Creek, Calif., Stephen Ellis, of Seattle, Sara Ellis and Ed Hand, of Livermore, Calif., Dave Ellis, of Redwood Shores, Calif., and Paul and Johanna Ellis, of Tampa, Fla.; and grandchildren, Kristen, Keith, and Scott Morse, Liana Flanders, Audrey and Kelsey Ellis, Zane and Jordan Ellis, E.J. and Maura Hand, and Ryan, Brady, and Aubin Ellis. We all give thanks to God for the blessing of this wonderful man in our lives.

Jim was preceded in death by his father, James Long, in 1928; mother, Mary Ellis, in 1976; and sister, Mabel Malysz, in 1985.