Arlene (Davis) Ellis Obituary (1941 - 2020)

WATCH LIVE FUNERAL STREAM HERE My name is Becky Marshall, I am the daughter of Arlene Ellis. It's my pleasure to tell you about an amazing woman we called, "Mom". Arlene was born In Lawrenceville, Illinois, on September 30, 1941 to Carlene Gay Davis Carson Scoggins and Frank Kenneth Davis. Our mom was blessed with the name Francis Arlene Davis but with her first sign of stubbornness she changed it to Arlene Davis Ellis upon marriage. Arlene was the third of 4 girls. Her oldest sister was Joy Joann Davis Cummings, then Martha Jean Davis Parry, and Marcia Kay Davis Sloan. All of her sisters preceded her in death. Our mom had a rough childhood being raised by a single mother. In the 1940's few woman raised their kids on their own. Mom would always remember she lived by a train track in Illinois, and the engineers would throw ice to her and her sisters when it went by. Her Mom, Carlene, moved her kids out to Utah and they all worked picking berries to assist in bringing in food. She lived her teenage life in Lehi, Utah until she met her husband of 62 years Don Ellis. They were wed on March 7, 1958, and later in the temple of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on May 29, 1964. They then became residents of Pleasant Grove until their later years when they started to snowbird for warm weather. My mom had her first child at 16 and thought she was done with 3 kids at age 20. She had Joy Barbara Ellis Sidwell, who later married her, now deceased, amazing husband Michael Eugene Sidwell. Number two was Tammy Jean Ellis Rowan, still wed to Gary Rowan. Carol Ann Ellis Zierse was the 3rd girl married to Rick Zierse. Then she had a late mistake and welcomed her 4th daughter into this world. Becky Lynn Ellis Marshall, still on the hunt for Mr. Right. Mom attended night school with her husband, Don, and they both received their GED's. Arlene worked at the school lunchroom when her kids where smaller then took on the job of being a fulltime mother. Our mother was just a stay at home Mom, but she ran a tight ship with a spotless house and dinners of meat and potatoes. Don taught our mom to cook and she was famous for her Christmas banana bread and applesauce cookies. They lived the old traditional lifestyle where mom's got to stay home with the kids and the dad worked. Don was employed at Geneva Steel for 28 years until they closed. Don and Arlene had a great adventure through life. They enjoyed camping, fishing, boating, snowmobiling and traveling. Don would take Arlene to Oregon starting in 1972 and they would enjoy weeks of deep-sea fishing. Returning with a freezer of salmon, snapper and crab. They enjoyed deer and elk hunting. As small as our mom was, she had her own 308 and shot her own deer. Daddy got the job of gutting and hauling it out though. They enjoyed seasonal trips to Lake Powell with their kids and camping throughout southern Utah. Mom loved her nickel slot machines. Jeff Gordon was the ultimate NASCAR driver for Arlene. If Jeff was losing or out of the race she would just turn the race off. I am not sure how Jeff became her 'other man' but he definitely was. She collected lots of his memorabilia. Then we can't forget Elvis, she loved him too. Becky remembered that they heard on the radio that Elvis had died. They were driving back from Oregon when she got the news, and cried. Becky was ecstatic thinking she would never have to listen to Elvis again, that was naive thinking. Throughout all the fun she experienced in life she had many health issues that gave her struggles. Mom had all 4 of us girls C-section and would return, almost yearly, for adhesion operations due to the scarring from the surgeries. Then we can't forget how horrible her migraines got. You could hear her yodeling in the toilet all through the house, until we could get to the ER and get her a shot to knock her out for days. Later in life they became snowbirds and traveled from Gold Beach, Oregon to Lake Havasu, California in the winter. Then once Don's back gave out, they settled in Lehi and Orem. Mom is survived by us four girls, Joy Sidwell (Sid) of Lindon, Tammy Rowan (Gary) of Orem, Carol Zierse (Richard) of South Jordan, and Becky Marshall of Medford, Oregon. She leaves behind 20 grandchildren, 45 great grandchildren and 4 great-great grandchildren. She is preceded in death by Don by 10 months, passing last December 3, 2019. She is also preceded by her amazing mother, Grandma Scoggins and all 3 of her sisters. The 4 of us girls and our husbands are pleased if you were able to attend and share our memories of our mother with us. Private family services will be held Monday, October 19, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. in the Olpin Family Mortuary Chapel. The public is invited to the graveside services that will follow at 2:00 p.m. in the Pleasant Grove City Cemetery. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.olpinmortuary.com. Due to Covid 19 restrictions face masks and social distancing are highly recommended.