[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 39 (Thursday, March 2, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E493-E494]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       EULOGY FOR DeTREVILLE ELLIS

                                 ______


                      HON. G.V. (SONNY) MONTGOMERY

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, March 2, 1995
  Mr. MONTGOMERY. Mr. Speaker, on January 31, 1995, E. DeTreville 
Ellis, colonel, U.S. Army (retired) was buried at Arlington National 
Cemetery. He was buried with full military honors, most appropriate for 
a man who served his country with great distinction for so many years.
  At the time of his death, Colonel Ellis was 104 years of age, the 
oldest living graduate of West Point. General Eisenhower and General 
Bradley were two of his classmates--the class of 1915. He also was a 
graduate of the University of South Carolina, Harvard Business School, 
the Command and General Staff School, and the Army War College.
  During World War I, Colonel Ellis served in the 2d Cavalry on the 
Mexican border and as assistant chief of staff with the 10th Infantry 
Division. In World War II, he served in the Office of the Assistant 
Secretary of War. He was commanding officer of the European 
Quartermaster Depot during the Berlin Airlift. He received the Army 
Commendation Ribbon with Oak Leaf Cluster. Colonel Ellis retired from 
active duty in 1950.
  Mr. Speaker, DeTreville Ellis was a unique individual. He lived his 
life to the fullest, always helping others. He loved the military and 
West Point. But most of all, he loved his family and many friends. 
Survivors include a sister, Julia Hamlin, Summerville, SC; a son-in-
law, Tracy E. Mulligan, Jr., Chevy Chase, MD; two grandsons, Tracy 
Ellis Mulligan and John R. Mulligan, both of Silver Spring, MD; six 
great-grandchildren, Tracy, Rebecca and Joseph Mulligan and Sharon, 
Christopher and Dennis Mulligan, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins 
and friends. He will be greatly missed.
  The following eulogy, written by Colonel Ellis' grandson, Tracy Ellis 
Mulligan, was delivered by U.S. Army Chaplain, Maj. Stephen D. Turner, 
at the Fort Myer Chapel, January 31, 1995:
    
    
  Eulogy for E. DeTreville Ellis, Colonel, USA (Ret.), March 12, 1890-
                            January 22, 1995

       It is altogether fitting that the funeral service for E. 
     DeTreville Ellis be held in an Army chapel. It is even more 
     fitting that there be many people in attendance, those from 
     his roots in South Carolina, from West Point, from his wife's 
     family, from the Army, from the organizations in which he 
     participated and from the friends and family with which he 
     was so involved.
       He was born on James Island, South Carolina at a time when 
     the leaders of the business, of government and of the 
     military were veterans of the Civil War.
       He went to a one room schoolhouse, by horse and buggy, 
     studied by kerosene lanterns and knew an extended family 
     including his Ellis and Lebby grandparents. At Age 16\1/2\ he 
     went to college at the University of South Carolina in 
     Columbia, working to pay his way through and graduating in 
     1910.
       [[Page E494]] He won a competitive examination for entrance 
     to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Among 
     the 164 who graduated in the class of 1915 were Generals 
     Eisenhower and Bradley. All of whom were in F Company, all of 
     whom were imbued with the West Point creed of Duty, Honor, 
     Country.
       Three days after graduation, he married Laura Harris, a 
     yankee from Pittsburgh, and they ``pulled together in double 
     harness'' until her death in 1974. It might be noted that 
     Mrs. Ellis taught Chaplain Miller, presiding here today, at 
     his 2nd grade Sunday school class.
       After graduation, he served in the combat arms of the Army, 
     first in the 2nd cavalry, and then in the infantry. While in 
     the sixteenth cavalry on the Mexican border, he commanded and 
     trained, as he put it with quiet humor, ``a troop of 108 men 
     who had never seen a horse and 108 horses who had never seen 
     a man.'' It became among the best troops in the regiment.
       After World War I, he transferred to the Quartermaster 
     Corps, held responsible positions in the Army, and attended 
     the various schools until his retirement in 1950. He 
     graduated from the Industrial College, the Command and 
     General Staff School, the Army
      War College, and the Harvard Business School, developing 
     associations he maintained for many years. He also played 
     a great deal of polo. Two assignments which he recalled as 
     highlights were service in the Assistant Secretary of War 
     Office for 3\1/2\ years just prior to World War II, where 
     he was involved in the inner workings of the Army, and as 
     Commanding Officer of 20,000 people of the European 
     Quartermaster Depot in Giessen Germany just after WW II.
       Upon retirement, he invested wisely in the stock market, 
     which gave him the ability to travel widely and continue his 
     life long involvement with people. He returned to South 
     Carolina each year, visiting relatives of various and 
     increasing generations, West Point classmates, and Army 
     friends. He even visited those descendants who served in the 
     Navy, although he naturally continued to root for Army in the 
     annual football game.
       While in his 70's, he wrote two books on the family 
     history, including genealogy, pictures and extracts of 
     hundreds of family letters and documents going back beyond 
     the American Revolution. His forward states, ``This book was 
     started for my daughter, grandsons, nieces, nephews and their 
     families in order that they might learn something about their 
     ancestors and the part they played in the history of the 
     States and Country during the past 3\1/2\ centuries''. He 
     presented copies of his books to hundreds of people, refusing 
     any payment.
       He and his wife, Laura, maintained an extensive 
     correspondence over many decades. These included not only his 
     generation but those of the new one, two, and three 
     generations of family and friends. He typically typed on a 
     portable typewriter, retaining a carbon copy and any incoming 
     correspondence. He placed his correspondence, tens of 
     thousands of documents, at the South Carolina Library in 
     Columbia for posterity.
       He was always involved with people, especially at important 
     points in their lives. He was secretary and scribe of his 
     West Point class, and was on the Board of Directors of the 
     Army Mutual Aid Association. He helped numerous widows and 
     their children in burial arrangements including many at 
     Arlington, social security affairs, and other matters 
     associated with the loss of a loved one. Valuing education, 
     he began in 1921 to help family members through college.
       He began polo while at West Point and while he was an 
     expert horseman, he drove cars from the Model T Ford until he 
     gave up driving at age 96. In the 1960's and 70's, when 
     younger relatives arrived at his annual June 15th anniversary 
     parties with long hair and beards, he welcomed them, and 
     conversed about history. Perhaps they were similar in 
     appearance to the Civil War veterans of his boyhood. When he 
     received a microwave oven at age 101, he learned to use it, 
     saying it was a good invention. On his last night in a 
     nursing home, at age 104, he exercised in his wheelchair, 
     conversed with family and went to dinner in the dining room. 
     He was a man who adapted to change. He survived the loss of 
     his wife, Laura Harris Ellis, and remarried, at age 91, 
     Winnie Robinson, widow of a classmate. He survived all of his 
     West Point classmates and became the oldest living graduate 
     in the history of West Point.
       DeTreville Ellis brought people together, was involved with 
     their lives in the daily happenings and in their significant 
     events.
       It is altogether fitting that there are people here from 
     family--nephews, grandchildren, son-in-law, grand-nephews, 
     niece, great grand-nieces, great grand-nephews, great 
     grandchildren, cousins--West Point, the Army, neighbors and 
     friends.
       He lived the values of Duty, Honor, Country and of family. 
     The people with whom he was involved, who knew him and those 
     who knew of him were enriched by his presence.
     

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