Jim Ellis

James Reed "Jim" Ellis (August 5, 1921–October 25, 2019) was a municipal bond lawyer and civic activist based in King County, Washington. Although he never sought or held elective office, at the time of his death the Seattle Times described him as "one of [Washington's] most visionary and successful civic leaders." Among the many projects for which he was a key leader were cleaning up Lake Washington, establishing King County Metro (the county's public transit system), and a series of ballot initiatives known collectively as Forward Thrust; he also founded the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust. He was also a key proponent of lidding Interstate 5 to create Freeway Park (now officially Jim Ellis Freeway Park) and the adjacent Washington State Convention Center (now Seattle Convention Center). Family life Ellis was born in Oakland, California in 1921. His parents were Hazel Reed Ellis (originally from Spokane, Washington) and Floyd Ellis (originally from Dayton, Washington. His father (although trained as a lawyer) worked in the import-export industry. He had two brothers, John (born 1923) and Robert (born 1928). After the birth of his brother Robert, the family moved to Seattle, where he attended John Muir Elementary School and Franklin High School. In the summer of 1937, Ellis's father placed Jim, Robert and two dogs on five acres of wooded land that he had purchased near Preston, Washington along the Raging River. They were given a ton of groceries, and instructions on how to build a log cabin. They had a rough summer, but by the end of it they had bonded closely, and had a livable cabin that they improved over the next several years, and that Ellis continued to use into the 2000s. Ellis moved back east to attend Yale University. When the U.S. entered World War II, Ellis enlisted into the Air Force; his brother Robert joined the Army. Ellis was told to complete his degree before reporting for duty; both brothers began active duty on the same day in March 1943. He married Mary Lou Earling November 18, 1944. He and Mary had first met in high school; she was from Alaska, and attended the private Bush School in Seattle while he was at Franklin. They reconnected in the summer of 1942, shortly after he graduated from Yale. At Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, Ellis served as a weather forecaster; his wife trained as a pilot, with the intention of becoming a WASP, but the WASPs were disbanded before she could join.