Rodney Ellis (Alumni Assoc. President) (1965)

Sun, Aug 27, 2017

Rod :This has been one of the hardest bios I've ever done.  I pulled out every conceivable trick I knew to find this guy.  I stumbled across the article on him weeks ago but finding a Eugene Williams was like looking for a generic squirrel.  He was here, there and no where!  When I did find him I was astonished to realize that he was actually born in So. Africa and so most of my broad search engine questions were nil.  Two small things cracked the case and opened the can of worms: 1. Mrs. Helen Stanton Williams always labeled her place of birth as Holt, Michigan 2. A small article in the State Journal circa 1917-1918 on the Stillman reunion in Okemos named Helen and Eugene. 

From those two hints I was able to pull together the family and finally start a full chase on Eugene.  I still do not know what his middle name was.  The embassy papers out of So. Africa had Warren and Wayne recorded.  His tombstone memorial records Wayne.  Everything I have found has, "Eugene W."

If you read the bio you will understand why I included the other 3 brothers.  Although I only came up with two obits they were valuable beyond gold.  The brothers were diverse....factory worker, clergyman, Army Colonel and doctor.  Interesting family..............and what a chase.  Eugene is the earliest OHS grad I've located so far.  

Sherrie Paty Barber '66

(I posted this note from Sherrie because I thought it added some perspective to this Okemos "Pioneer" family.  Rod Ellis '66)