Walter Ellis

Walter D. Ellis, passed away Friday, June 26, 2020, following a long fight with lung cancer. Walter was born in Gillette Wyoming on October 12, 1941, to Delores (Dean) and Homer Ellis and has one brother, Dennis R. Ellis of Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Walter graduated from the Colorado School of Mines with a degree in Metallurgy in 1962, and in 1969 he obtained an Engineering degree from New Mexico State University. In 1972, he moved his family to Houston so he could attend the South Texas College of Law where he obtained a Juris Doctorate in 1975.

Walter's professional career included stints in mining with companies such as Silver King Mines, Climax Molybdenum, and Kerr McGee Uranium. After he graduated from law school, Walter joined the Pennzoil Counsel where he eventually served as General Counsel to their subsidiary, the Duval Corporation, a gold mining company.

Walter's work and travel took him to a number of small mining towns such as El Paso, Texas, Ely, Nevada, Leadville, Colorado, Milford, Utah, Grants, New Mexico, and Tuscon, Arizona, and around the world to Australia, Indonesia, Egypt, Costa Rica, Argentina, French Polynesia, and South Africa.

During his senior year at the School of Mines, Walter met and married Salle (McClintock) Flanders and adopted her three children; they were married for 53 years until Salle's death in January 2018. Walter is survived by his children, Jeffery Ellis, Gregory Ellis, and Jenne Ellis; 9 grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren.