The Rev. Julius C. Ellis, 84, died Dec. 14 at Mercy Memorial Hospital in Ardmore, Oklahoma. He was born Nov. 23, 1923, at Mathison, Mississippi, the son of William Lynch, Sr. and Minnie Youngblood Ellis. He married Verna Mae Whitehead on Feb. 6, 1943, at Pueblo, Colorado. She died July 31, 2000. He then married Mary Beesley Smith on Jan. 12, 2001, at Greenville, Alabama. She survives. He was a retired minister, formerly serving Eastside Baptist Church in Great Bend. He was an Ardmore, Oklahoma, resident since 2003, coming from Great Bend. He was a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant, serving in World War II, retiring in 1959. He was chaplain at Central Kansas Medical Center, Great Bend, and a member of Mary Niblack Baptist Church in Ardmore. Survivors include his wife, of the home; daughter Phyllis Parsons, Great Bend; sister-inlaw June Warren and husband, Pete, Great Bend; two stepdaughters, Kathy Peavy, Georgeanna, Alabama, and Patsy Lee, McKenzie, Alabama; four grandchildren, Jeff Parsons and wife, Michelle, Marlin Hughes and wife, Alica, Kim Nollette and husband, Tim, and Shelley Correll and husband, Kent; 10 great-grandchildren, Taylor Parsons, Jacob Parsons, Aubrey Maneth, Melanie Maneth, Katie Mae Maneth, Luke Maneth, Stephanie Hughes, Dalton Hughes, MacKenzie Thielenhaus and Ayden Correll; two step-grandchildren, Angela Mosley and Michelle Barrow; and five step-great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by two sons, Julius C. Ellis Jr. and Bruce Allen Ellis; and one stepson, William Smith; two brothers, William Lynch Ellis Jr. and Loy Ellis; and one half-brother, Dan Chris Ellis. Services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Bryant Funeral Home in Great Bend, with Pastor Roy Savage officiating. Interment will be at Hillcrest Memorial Park, Great Bend. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home, with the family receiving friends from 6 to 8 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the building fund for Eastside Baptist Church, in care of the funeral home.