Jim Ellis

(From Brown-Winters Funeral Home)

James Franklin “Jim” Ellis was born to Harold Franklin “Jack” Ellis and Jessie Fyfe “Penny” Beveridge on March 10, 1953 at Miami Baptist Hospital, Miami, Oklahoma. His death on August 22, 2023 at Freeman Hospital in Joplin, Missouri followed a brief illness.

He attended Miami Public Schools for 1st Grade through 12th and was on the newspaper staff for Will Rogers Junior High as well as at Miami High School. His early newspaper career continued when he attended NEO A&M and then Northeastern State University (NSU) in Tahlequah where worked on the campus newspapers as sports editor.

Jim's first job after graduating from NSU was with the Sequoyah County Times in Sallisaw, OK (1975-1977). After that, he began working for the Miami News-Record as assistant sports editor and eventually becoming the sports editor.

As he wrote on his Twitter profile: “Sports editor of the Miami News-Record since 1977, now working on the news side, too. I bleed blue since I am a grad of Miami High School and Northeastern A&M.” Jim was inducted into the Oklahoma Eight-Man High School Football Hall of Fame in 2011 and was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 2012. He was a member of the Oklahoma Press Association Quarter Century Club and a member of the organizing committee of the Oklahoma 8-Man Football Coaches Association All-Star game held in Miami. In 2017, he was awarded a Mayoral Proclamation to honor his service to the Miami, Oklahoma Community. Jim was inducted into the NEO Athletic Hall of Fame and the Miami High School Hall of Fame in 2018.

Jim married Mary Elizabeth Bay on the 23rd of April 1983 at Bethany Christian Church, Miami, Oklahoma. Mary preceded him in death in 2016.

Jim is survived by his daughter Brittany Marie Alfred and her husband Matthew of Oklahoma City; one sister Heather Fitzgibbon and her husband Dennis of Grove; one aunt, Mrs. Mary MacRae Beveridge of Glasgow, Scotland, and a multitude of cousins.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the American Heart Association, Miami Public Schools Enrichment Foundation or the NEO A&M Educational Foundation in his honor would be appreciated.

The family would like to thank all the doctors, nurses, nurse techs and other healthcare workers at Freeman Hospital West for their perseverance and care during Jim's illness. He was very pleased with the attention and care he received at Freeman West.

Services are pending and have been placed in the care of Brown-Winters Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Miami.

Friends and family may send the family notes of encouragement by viewing Jim's Tribute Page at www.brown-winters.com.