Jacquelin Diane Morris was born 15 November 1927 in Billings Montana, to Horace Mitchell Morris and Helen Darlene Tyack Morris. Diane was the younger sister of her beloved brother, Gerald Mitchell Morris. She grew up enjoying the closeness of extended family – grandparents, numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins – and school friendships that lasted a lifetime.
She attended Billings public schools, going on to the University of Montana at Missoula. It was during her freshman year at the university that she tried to avoid attending a required sorority function. She could not get permission to miss it, so she reluctantly went. There she met David Ernest Ellison from Olympia, Washington, who was in Missoula attending law school. He asked
her to dance because she was the prettiest girl in the room. They were married December 23, 1946 in Missoula, where they lived until David finished law school.
Following his graduation, Diane and Dave moved to Olympia, Washington, where Dava Rae, Darlene, and Dayle Gwen were born. Drew Mitchell was born after they moved to Bellevue, where they have lived since the early 1950’s.
In addition to the full time task of raising four children, Diane attended and worked in the office as a volunteer for many years at Bellevue First United Methodist Church. She also loved to dance, and belonged to a dance club for many years. She would make sure that she and Dave attended as many social events as possible where a music group or combo was playing, so she could dance the night away. If Dave needed to sit down and take a rest, Diane would find another handsome man to twirl on the dance floor.
Diane also liked to make music on the piano or organ. She and friend Barby Doss formed a female version of Ferrante and Teischer, working up four-hand piano and piano/organ duets to perform for family and friends. Diane and Dave also enjoyed attending the opera, the symphony, and musical theater.
Diane was the driving force (and primary hostess) behind the annual Ellison family summer gatherings on Samish Island, Washington, where all the children, grandchildren, and (in later years) great-grandchildren would assemble and continue to strengthen the strong family ties. In addition to organizing the annual music concert (where any and all family members with any musical talent were strongly encouraged to contribute to the musical evening), Diane loved staying up to the early morning hours with all the grandkids, talking and playing games.
Diane loved anything to do with cooking and kitchens, which one could see by the number and variety of cooking tools, pans, dishes, etc. she had. She was an excellent cook and often took cooking classes. She collected recipes and made recipe books. All of the kids have favorite recipes from Diane that they still prepare and enjoy, especially at family gatherings.
Shopping and going out for coffee were also favorite pastimes. As adults coming home to visit, the girls could always count on Mom taking them to “Nordies”, as she called it, and buying them clothing and new shoes, to be followed by a stop for coffee somewhere before returning home. Shopping trips weren’t the only trips Diane took, as she and Dave had many trips together to various countries in Europe and other parts of the world.
Diane loved to garden, often growing the family’s vegetables in the back yard. The Ellisons enjoyed green beans galore, squash, lettuce, carrots, chives, rhubarb, and lots and lots of tomatoes. Diane had a philodendron originally belonging to her great aunt Lilly, of which she took great care for over 60 years. She gave cuttings of the plant to many family members and friends over the decades. It’s still thriving.
Growing up in Montana, Diane always had a deep-rooted love for cowboy country; she decorated and named one room in their house The Montana Room. As the saying goes, you can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl. That was certainly true for Diane.
Diane had a real love for life and the blessings it brings in the way of friendships and family. Diane had a favorite saying that she repeated, even at the end of her life. With family sitting with her, Diane would look at everyone with her and opine, “Who has more fun than us turkeys, I’d like to know.” Well, nobody really.
Diane died April 8, 2015, and is survived by David Ellison, her husband of 68 years; children Dava Rae Ellison Kelly (Frank), Darlene Ellison Emigh (Douglas), Dayle Gwen Ellison Iverson (Robert), Drew Mitchell Ellison (Rebecca); exchange student son Jean-Louis Pernin (Catherine Chateau); grandchildren Laryn Rae Kelly Dorronsoro (Andres), Grayson Mitchell Kelly, Corinne Larzul Curtis (Paul), Melanie Larzul Seymour, Kelly Cole O’Connell (Justin), Lindsay Cole Lee (Sean), Brett Michael Cole, David Edward Huycke Ellison, Gregory Mitchell Huycke Ellison, Rosalie Diane Huycke Ellison, and great-grandchildren Elise Renée Curtis, Ariana Sophie Curtis, Landon David O’Connell, Isaac Michael Lee, and more on the way. Diane also leaves behind her sister-in-law June Morris of Salt Lake City, Utah; cousin Kay Lorenz of Whitefish, Montana; sister-in-law and brother-in-law Dorothy and Jack Park of San Diego, California; and “The Montana Girls” – long-time friends from Billings who also transplanted in the Bellevue area – Muriel Fisher and Mary Fricke. Gloria Crenshaw, another “Montana Girl”, lives in Texas.
Diane will be interred in the mausoleum of The Odd Fellows Memorial Park in Tumwater, Washington.
Special thanks for their loving care to the staff and family at Aegis of Bellevue, Diane’s home for the past four years, and to the wonderful people of Providence Hospice who walked with the family through Diane’s final weeks.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Diane’s memory to Guide Dogs for the Blind or The American Alzheimer’s Association.