Betty Kelly Ellis

Betty Kelly Ellis, passed away at age 89 in Brasstown Manor Retirement Home in Hiawassee, GA on August 19th 2020. Mrs. Ellis, aka “Mississippi”, was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi November 4th, 1930 and lived her entire life in Clarksdale except for a brief period when she resided in Greenwood and in Memphis, Clarksdale was her beloved home.She worked for over 62 years at Planters Manufacturing Company, later Archer Daniels Midland Company, in Lyon, Mississippi and continued there working part-time until is was shut down when she was almost 80. Betty was a life long member of Clarksdale Baptist Church and regarded her Sunday School Class there as dearest friends. She loved being apart of the Rolling Along Club, Prime Time, Clarksdale Women’s Club, and her water aerobics group. She was an excellent cook, avid gardener, and a lover of animals, taking in many strays over the years including a mama kitty in her last days in Hiawassee that gave birth to 3 babies all of whom found adoptive homes and were spayed and neutered. Mama kitty is now a permanent resident of Brasstown Manor.

Betty was preceded in death by her parents, Charles Brooks Kelly and Jenny Wood Kelly; husband, Lester “Buddy” Ellis; sister, Mary Virginia Savage; nephew, Ronald Claude Wilson, Jr. and her most dear and loved companion of many years, who treated her like a Queen, John Gardner. Left to cherish her memory are daughter, Deidra Ellis Gilbert (Thomas) of Suches, GA; Grandson, Dr. Alan Ellis Perdie (Minda) of Marshall, TX; great-grandson, Tobias Preston Purdie also of Marshall, TX and brother-in-law, Carl Savage of Lyon.

Due to COVID-19, private family service will be held at First United Methodist Church in Blairsville, GA with interment in the Roy Cardell Memorial and Prayer Gardens of the same. Family asks that memorial be made to Clarksdale Baptist Church, CARES, the Irby, and Bobby Ellis Scholarship Fund at Delta State University or East Texas Baptist University.
The family would like to thank the Clarksdale community for all the cards, letters, and phone calls that brightened Betty’s last days. A special thank you to Eugene Hicks and Jerry Gardner for making a supreme and heroic effort to get the World Famous Hicks Hot Tamales delivered to Hiawassee, GA so Betty could enjoy her favorite food. Clarksdale is family and Clarksdale is a place of caring.

Arrangements are entrusted to the Cochran Funeral Home of Hiawassee. You can sign the online guest registry at www.cochranfuneralhomes.com.