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Community Corner

Couple leave $863,000 scholarship fund for future Stonington High School grads

A 1933 graduate of Stonington High School and his wife have left the powerful gift of higher education for future graduates of the school.

        With his death at age 97 in November 2012 and the passing of his wife Barbara in 2007, Thomas J. Ellis, Jr. left most of their joint estate – nearly $865,000 – to the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut to establish a permanent four-year scholarship fund for college-bound Stonington High School seniors. The new Ellis fund is approximately three times the size of the next largest scholarship fund benefitting Stonington High grads.

        “I had no idea until the Community Foundation called me,” admitted Stephen H. Murphy, PhD, who has been principal of the 785-student, grades 9-12 school for 19 years. “But I promise you we have many deserving students.”

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        Murphy said people create scholarships for many reasons, including to thank the school and to show their optimism for the future.

        “At our annual senior banquet, one of the scholarship donors will often stand up and say something like, ‘My father was a proud graduate of Stonington High and would want to see other students have the same opportunities.’”

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Community Foundation manages almost 100 scholarship funds

        The Thomas J. Ellis, Jr. Scholarship Award in Recognition of the Class of 1933 joins nearly 100 scholarship funds at the Community Foundation, serving schools and towns across eastern Connecticut, noted Maryam Elahi, president and CEO.

        “I think scholarships represent a deep commitment to give the next generation a helping hand,” Elahi said. “The Ellises grew up in a time when few people went to college, especially in the midst of the Depression.  They and the generations that followed them rightly see education as our future.”

        Elahi reported that the Community Foundation awarded more than $400,000 in scholarships in 2013 to well over 200 deserving students.

        She added that Mr. Ellis endowed the scholarship, so the Community Foundation will invest the assets and control spending so it can continue to give year after year.

High school standouts and long professional careers

        Both Thomas and Barbara Ellis had notable high school careers. Mr. Ellis participated in all the school’s five sports: cross country, track, baseball, basketball, and football. He acted in the school play and performed in the orchestra. His yearbook entry read: “Here we have ‘Teejay’ Ellis, that popular young man who hails from Mystic. ‘Hoot’ has caused the teachers no little worry by his arguing, but in turn he gives a cheery aspect to the room.”

        After graduation, Ellis worked for the former Sonoco Products Company in Mystic. He then spent the next 30 years at the Naval Submarine Base except for a three-year stint in World War II in the Navy on Guam. After holding several supervisory positions overseeing supplies, he retired in 1971. In his later years, he worked at the Community Service Credit Union and for 16 years, until he was 90, was Director of Bridge Programs for the Groton Senior Center.

        Barbara (Dupuis) Ellis graduated in 1935 from Robert E. Fitch Sr. High School where she was captain of the cheerleading squad and the girls basketball team.  She attended New London Business School before becoming office manager then executive secretary to the general manager at Electric Boat. In her position, she was on a first-name basis with regular visitor Hyman Rickover (soon-to-be Admiral Rickover) who headed the nation’s development of nuclear submarines, the family reports.

No surprise about gift, say niece and nephew

        Niece Victoria Dutko of Massachusetts and nephew Brad Cook of Connecticut were not surprised that their uncle and aunt left the bulk of their estate to charity and for scholarships.

        “Both of them respected education tremendously,” noted Dutko. “Though they didn’t have children, I think they were well aware what my parents went through to send six children to college. They always knew how their nieces and nephews were doing in school,” she added.

        “They actually took our eldest sister on her college tour,” explained Cook. “Our parents had their hands full with the other kids. My uncle and aunt talked about the trip for the rest of their lives, they enjoyed it so much.”

        The siblings described their aunt and uncle as an “elegant couple,” who loved to golf, dance, play bridge, and travel.

        “They spoiled their nieces and nephews with attention,” Dutko laughed. “They were like second parents to us.”

        In his eulogy, Cook said, “[It was m]aybe the best marriage I ever saw up close and personal. They were truly best friends, soul mates, and made for each other. Sixty-two great years they were married. If they ever did have a disagreement, it was when one of them screwed up a bridge game. And that wasn’t often.”

        To apply for a Community Foundation scholarship, visit www.cfect.org/scholarships. To set up a scholarship fund in New London County, contact Alison Woods at (860) 442-3572 or Alison@cfect.org. For Windham County and parts of Tolland County, contact Kip Parker at (860) 442-3572 or kip@cfect.org.

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