Dr. William Rufus Ellis

Dr. William Rufus Ellis, 76, died in Denver, CO on October 11, 2016 with friends and family by his side. He is survived by his wife Carol, brother Pat, sister Judy, and sons Brian and Jaman. After graduating from Clemson, Bill obtained a PhD in Nuclear Engineering from Princeton in 1967. He worked on the dream of fusion energy at Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico. In the 1980s, Bill served as Associate Director at the Naval Research Lab in Washington DC, working on technologies such as GPS which we all have in our phones today. In 1989 President H.W.Bush gave Dr. Ellis the Presidential Senior Executive Service Award. In 1991 Bill & Carol married and moved to New York City where Bill served as Vice President and Chief Scientist at Raytheon and taught physics at Pace University. Bill ran 5 NYC marathons, and collected American Indian pottery, which he donated to the Smithsonian. He was active in his community and the Episcopal Church. In 2014 Bill moved to Denver to be closer to his son Brian. Bill is fondly remembered for his keen sense of humor and one-liners. Graveside service will be held Nov 5 at 3pm at Woodlawn cemetery in Greenville SC. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the Alzheimer's Association. Please share memories of Dr. Ellis and condolences with the family by signing the guest book below.