Ben Ellis

Ben Ardell Ellis, 91, a retired sheet metal mechanic and World War II Army veteran, died early Wednesday morning, October 26 in Southside Regional Medical Center of complications from a stroke and pneumonia.

Mr. Ellis had lived in Dinwiddie County since 1964, but since suffering a heart attack in February he had been a resident at Waverly Healthcare Center in Waverly.

Born on a farm near Wilson, N.C., Mr. Ellis moved with the rest of his family to Chesterfield County in 1930. He was educated in public and Seventh-Day Adventist schools in North Carolina, where he once drove a school bus containing a little girl who became the actress Ava Gardner.

Mr. Ellis served in North Africa and Italy with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War II, rising to the rank of corporal. Having an outgoing personality and a talent for languages, he quickly learned French and Italian. Among other duties, he served as a translator and a foreman in the carpentry shop at Allied Force Headquarters in Rome.

"My father often talked about his war service, but never about the fighting ? only the people he met and what he saw there," said his daughter, Lisa Ellis, of Havertown, Pa. "For the rest of his life, he took advantage of any chance he had to speak French or Italian. He even taught his doctor a few phrases of Italian after his heart attack this year."

After the war, Mr. Ellis married Margaret (Margie) Conant, who lived only a few years afterward. He married Mary Frances Pond of Petersburg in 1953.

Mr. Ellis worked for 23 years as a sheet metal mechanic on the maintenance crew of the Hercules Inc. plant in Hopewell. After retiring at the end of 1976, he built an addition to his home, doing much of the work himself with help from other family members.

Mr. Ellis attended Seventh-Day Adventist churches as a teen-ager and young man, but he had been a member of First Christian Church in Petersburg since the 1950s. He taught both adult and youth Sunday school classes and served as a deacon.

A member of American Legion Post No. 2 for many years, Mr. Ellis was regional chaplain for the veterans' group for a time in the 1980s. He received an award as Legionnaire of the Year for his service.

Though his formal education was limited, Mr. Ellis read widely and especially loved history and fiction. He was a devoted fan of the Atlanta Braves and rarely missed a game on television.

Mr. Ellis is survived by his wife and daughter; a brother, Floyd Ellis, of Prince George County; two grandchildren, Alexander and Faith Schaffer, of Havertown, Pa.; a son-in-law, Michael D. Schaffer, of Havertown; and numerous nieces and nephews.

The family will be available for visitors at 9 a.m. Saturday, October 29 at First Christian Church of Petersburg, 301 S. Boulevard. A funeral will follow at 11 a.m. Burial will be in Southlawn Memorial Park, Prince George County.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the American Heart Association, P. O. Box 5216, Glen Allen, VA 23058-5216. Condolences may be registered at www.jtmorriss.com .