John Henry Ellis

John Ellis passed away on August 23, 2017 in Layton, Utah after a valiant battle to overcome surgery complications.

John was born in Santa Monica, California where he grew up and attended California Polytechnic College. He graduated with a Masters in Mechanical Engineering and minoring in Nuclear Engineering. He worked for Livermore Laboratories in California doing research and development of nuclear weapons. He was part of the team conducting underground testing of nuclear weapons in its infancy stage. This job would take him to the Nevada Test Site and to sites in Europe.

John and family relocated to Idaho Falls, Idaho in 1967 where he went to work at the Naval Reactors Facility at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. He was an Engineer, a Shift Supervisor, Manager, and his last position was Fire Protection Engineer overseeing the fire suppression site at the facility. He retired in 1997 after 30 years of service.

In 2000 John went to work as the Chief Test Engineer for the Idaho State University Accelerator Center. As Chief Engineer he was in charge of setting up and rebuilding donated accelerators for other Laboratories. He enjoyed the engineering challenges this job presented and working with a very diverse group of people and students. He retired after 10 years.

John was active in Scouting, served many positions in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and coached little league football teams for several years in Idaho Falls.

John was married to Beverly and had five children; John, D'Ann, Brenna, Quinn, and Robert. They later divorced.

In April 1986 he married Peggy Fullmer in Pocatello where he was residing at the time of his death. John and Peggy enjoyed camping, fishing, their cabin in Island Park, and family get-togethers. They shared several cruises, road trips and just weekend getaways.

John has three granddaughters and two great grandchildren. John was preceded in death by his parents and his son John.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00am on Tuesday, August 29, 2017 at the Whitaker LDS Church, 4890 Whitaker Road with a viewing one hour prior to the service. There will also be a viewing held from 7-8:30pm on Monday August 28, 2017 at Wilks Funeral Home, 211 West Chubbuck Road. Condolences and memories may be shared with the family under the "Tribute Wall" tab above.