George Mark Ellis, PhD, 95, Formerly of Pleasant Valley (Obituary Brought to You by Heintzelman Funeral Home)

George Mark Ellis, Ph.D., 95, formerly of Pleasant Valley, Springfield Township, died Wednesday, March 16, 2016 at Saucon Valley Manor, Hellertown. He was the husband of the late Anke Ellis (died July 14, 2008, on their 40th wedding anniversary). He was born in Dunmore, Lackawanna County, Pa., on Jan. 18, 1921 to the late George Wilson Ellis and Gertrude (Mengelberg). For high school he went to Exeter Academy in Exeter, N.H. He was active in the Boy Scouts and earned the rank of Eagle Scout. He attended Yale University from 1939 through 1943. After graduation he joined the Army, served in the 83rd Airborne Paratrooper Unit and saw action in Normandy, France and the Netherlands. In Holland his gliders overshot their aim and his unit landed in Germany and became prisoners of war. He and his unit went to several prison camps, the last one in Poland in 1945. When the Russians came, he was able to get his unit to safety across the Elbe River into the American sector. After the war, he attended Harvard University, receiving his Master’s degree in 1947 and his Ph.D. in 1952 in English History. During the summer he worked as waterfront director in a Boy Scout camp north of Scranton. He loved foreign languages and traveling. He worked for three years for the U.S. government in Frankfurt, Main, Germany, from 1952 to 1955. There he met his future wife and family. From 1955 to 1964 he taught English history at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. In 1964 he moved to Ithaca, N.Y., and worked as Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Science at Cornell University. In 1967, he joined Lehigh University as a part-time professor of English history and full-time Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Science. In 1974, he became Associate Dean of the College of the Arts and Science, from which he retired in 1989. He continued advising students and teaching history until he fully retired in 1990. In 1968 he married Anke Hoffmann from Germany and acquired two stepdaughters and a German Cocker Spaniel at the same time. Together they built a full and happy life in their country home (Teichhaus) in Pleasant Valley, Springfield Township, Upper Bucks County. He and his wife were involved in many activities and organizations at Lehigh University and the former Allentown College, where his wife taught German. They both participated in the Council for International Student Hospitality (CISH), the PA Shakespeare Festival and various theater, arts and musical performances throughout the Lehigh Valley. He particularly loved the opera and supported the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, which included many trips there for performances. After retirement he learned Spanish and taught English to Spanish-speaking students in the Bethlehem Area Public Library. He and his wife also enjoyed traveling and were able to visit Scandinavia, Germany, England, the Baltic States, Greece, Italy and Mexico. In 2005, Dr. Ellis and his wife moved into Saucon Valley Manor in Hellertown, where they both were happy. Contrary to his expectations he outlived his wife by seven years and was able to enjoy a visit from two nieces and a nephew from California in Oct. 2015.

SURVIVORS

He is survived by his stepdaughter: Ursula M. Hoffmann, M.D., and her dog KoKo of Center Valley, as well as by many good friends in the Lehigh Valley, in the United States, in Germany and around the world, and several relatives. Dr. Ellis was predeceased by his stepdaughter: Ellen C. Hoffmann (1975).

SERVICE

A graveside service will be private at Springfield Mennonite Cemetery. Online expressions of sympathy can be recorded at www.heintzelmancares.com. Arrangements are by the Heintzelman Funeral Home Inc., Hellertown.

CONTRIBUTIONS

Contributions in his name can be made to Veterans of Foreign Wars, PA Shakespeare Festival at DeSales University, VNA Hospice House of St. Luke’s or Griswold Home Care, care of the Heintzelman Funeral Home Inc., 326 Main St., Hellertown, PA 18055.