[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 74 (Tuesday, June 3, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5273-S5274]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO DR. RUDY ELLIS

 Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, today I rise to mourn the death 
and celebrate the life of a close friend, Dr. Rudy J. Ellis, Sr., who 
passed away this past Monday, June 2, 1997.
  Dr. Rudy Ellis was an inspiration to those who knew him. He was a 
respected orthopedic surgeon in Louisville, KY, and was the team 
physician for University of Louisville athletics. Through the years, 
Rudy touched the lives of many people in the community as well as the 
thousands of Cardinal athletes that he treated during his 35 years as U 
of L's team doctor.
  I had one thing in common with Rudy, we both started at the 
University of Louisville at about the same time. He became the U of L 
team physician in 1961. Since that time, he treated athletes in all 
sports, except when he stepped down from the Cards' football and 
baseball teams in 1986. Dr. Rudy Ellis has done more good for more 
people through the university than virtually anyone else.
  As a U.S. Senator, I get to travel across Kentucky and meet many 
great people who have made a difference in the State. And if I had to 
make a list of the truly great Kentuckians, Dr. Rudy Ellis would rank 
in the Top five.
  A former member of the U of L's board of trustees and board of 
overseers, Rudy was one of the pioneers in sports medicine in Kentucky. 
He opened the Rudy J. Ellis Sports Medicine Center in 1980. And over 
the years, he has been an integral part of the athletic programs at 
many Jefferson County high schools, by providing free annual physical 
examinations for the 4,000 athletes in the school system. In 1993, to 
show their appreciation for his hard work and compassion for the young 
athletes, the athletic directors from across Kentucky created an award 
for people who provide distinguished service to high school sports. Who 
better to receive the first award than the man they named it after, Dr. 
Rudy Ellis.
  High school gyms and the University of Louisville weren't Rudy's only 
stomping grounds; he also participated in the athletic programs at 
Bellarmine College, Lindsey Wilson Junior College, Hanover College, St. 
Catherine College, Spalding University, Louisville Redbirds, Kentucky 
Colonels Basketball Team, CBA Catbirds Basketball Team and Louisville 
Shooters Basketball Team. And in 1994, Rudy was recognized for all his 
work when he was inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame.
  Mr. President please join me in extending my heartfelt sympathy and 
prayers to the Ellis family, his wife Ruth Anne and his four children, 
John, Jim, Linda and Amy, and to all those whose lives he touched. He 
will be missed very, very much.
  Mr. President I ask that two articles from the Louisville Courier-
Journal be printed in the Record.
  The articles follow:

                [From the Courier-Journal, June 3, 1997]

             Ellis, Beloved U of L team Doctor, Dies at 78

                          (By Ashley McGeachy)

       Dr. Rudy J. Ellis, the caretaker of University of 
     Louisville athletes for more than 35 years, died of an 
     apparent heart attack yesterday morning. He was 78.
       Details of Ellis' death were sketchy, but he and his wife, 
     Ruth Anne, were in Vicksburg, Miss., over the weekend for his 
     high school reunion. He died there.
       Ellis was said to be in fine health as he embarked on the 
     trip. He had suffered a heart attack five years ago to the 
     day of his death, but he had suffered no serious health 
     problems since.
       An orthopedic surgeon, Ellis became the team physician for 
     all U of L sports in 1961 and worked with all athletes 
     through 1986 when he stepped down from the Cards' football 
     and baseball teams. He was a U of L institution who never was 
     paid for his work.
       As news of Ellis' death spread throughout the U of L 
     community, there was sadness over the loss of the soft-
     spoken, gentle man who healed whoever was ailing.
       ``He loved athletes whether it was a high school kid or a 
     professional,'' said Cardinals basketball trainer Jerry May, 
     who worked with Ellis since joining U of L as a student 
     trainer in 1971. ``He loved to make sure that they were taken 
     care of. He probably never got paid much for any athlete he 
     ever saw, but the prerequisite wasn't whether they could pay. 
     The prerequisite was them being hurt.''
       May drove the Ellises to the airport Thursday night for 
     their trip to Mississippi and was scheduled to pick them up 
     last night.
       ``He was like a father to me,'' May said. ``We were very 
     close. We roomed together (on road trips) and have ridden 
     many a mile together.''
       Said a teary Sherry Samenick, a U of L trainer who worked 
     with Ellis for 17 years: ``He's the epitome of loyalty, 
     dedication, love, friendship and selflessness. . . . He 
     didn't turn anybody down.''
       Ellis helped everyone from the biggest stars at U of L to 
     high school athletes to ailing fans and media members. He 
     helped Darrell Griffith and Scooter McCray when they had knee 
     problems, Dwayne Morton when he broke his hand, Samaki Walker 
     when he fractured his foot and, most recently, DeJuan Wheat 
     when he sprained his ankle during the NCAA Tournament in 
     March.
       ``I don't care how long you're at it, you never get used to 
     it,'' Ellis once said of dealing with players' injuries. 
     ``You get real close to these kids, kind of feel like they're 
     your own children, and you get a little frightened every time 
     they take a spill.''
       When Scott Davenport, an assistant basketball coach at U of 
     L, broke his arm at age 6, Ellis fixed it. When Davenport's 
     son, Doug, fractured his leg seven years ago, Ellis' son, 
     John, fixed it.
       ``One generation set one; one generation set the other,'' 
     Davenport said, adding, ``How many people do you meet in a 
     lifetime who have never had anything bad said about them?''
       Said U of L athletic director Bill Olsen: ``Dr. Ellis meant 
     a lot to this program. . . . His caring and compassion for 
     people extended beyond athletes. Everyone had a lot of 
     confidence in Doc. He was your best friend; he was a father 
     figure to many student-athletes and in many ways was a 
     coach.''
       Jock Sutherland, the longtime radio announcer for U of L, 
     added: ``He was a great person. There aren't many people 
     outside of your family that you can say you love. I actually 
     love Rudy Ellis. I love everything he stands for.''
       The university honored Ellis in 1995 with a scholarship in 
     his name. He was inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of 
     Fame in 1994.
       A native of Mississippi, he attended Mississippi State on a 
     football scholarship and was the Bulldogs' starting 
     quarterback from 1938 through '40. He graduated from U of L's 
     medical school in '43 and became the Cards' team physician in 
     1961 at the behest of Peck Hickman, then the basketball 
     coach.
       He opened the Rudy J. Ellis Sports Medicine Center in 
     Louisville in 1980, and he served at times as team physician 
     for the Louisville Redbirds and the old Kentucky Colonels. He 
     worked with Bellarmine College, Lindsey Wilson College, 
     Hanover College, St. Catharine College and Spalding 
     University in addition to the Jefferson County Public 
     Schools.
       Pearson's Funeral Home on Breckinridge Lane is handling the 
     services, although the family didn't plan to make 
     arrangements until today.
       Ellis is survived by his wife and four children, sons John 
     and Jim, and daughters Linda and Amy.

                 Louisville Has Lost a Doctor To Us All

                            (By Rick Bozich)

       I didn't want to call Dr. Rudy Ellis' home at 10:45 on a 
     Tuesday night during Super Bowl week. But when you're a 
     newspaper person on deadline, where else were you going to 
     turn for an explanation of how an anterior cruciate ligament 
     works and how you repair it?
       You called Rudy Ellis, doctor to us all.
       The first thing he did was tell me to stop apologizing for 
     calling at that hour.
       The second thing was to explain everything he knew about 
     the anterior cruciate ligament, how he repaired one and how 
     long the recovery is.
       And, finally, after he asked how I was enjoying New 
     Orleans, the third thing he did was make me promise to call 
     back later that evening if I had further questions about 
     anything he had just patiently explained in incredible detail 
     for 20 minutes.
       ``Don't worry about it, paaaart-ner,'' Ellis always said in 
     that soft comforting drawl that rolled all the way back into 
     his boyhood days in Mississippi. ``We'll take care of it.''
       Ellis did not believe in the doctor-patient relationship. 
     He believed in the friend-friend relationship. He was an 
     orthopedic surgeon who handled sports-related problems, but 
     his real specialty was his warm and compassionate 
     personality.
       It did not matter whether you were a University of 
     Louisville Cardinal, a Louisville Redbird, a Kentucky 
     Colonel, a five-morning-a-week jogger or a substitute third 
     baseman in a Sunday night softball league--you lost a 
     tireless friend when Rudy Ellis died yesterday.
       Ellis was as concerned about your knee as Darrell 
     Griffith's knee, as worried about your shoulder as Felton 
     Spencer's shoulder, as interested in your day as he was in 
     anything he was doing in the most action-packed retirement I 
     have ever seen.

[[Page S5274]]

       You were just as likely to find him and his associates at 
     the Streetball Showdown as you were at Freedom Hall, where he 
     served so many years as the U of L team physician.
       Jim Watkins, the athletic director for Jefferson County 
     Public Schools, cannot remember when this state has conducted 
     finals for any sport without representatives of Ellis' office 
     on the scene.
       In 1993 athletic directors across Kentucky created an award 
     for friends of high school sports, outside of school 
     personnel, who provide distinguished service. Not only did 
     the athletic directors give Ellis the first award, but they 
     also named it the Dr. Rudy J. Ellis Award.
       ``Nobody could be more deserving,'' Watkins said. ``Or more 
     humble.''
       Ellis never sent the high schools a bill. He only sent 
     every patient on the way with a smile, convincing you that if 
     you followed his instructions you'd be hanging on the rim 
     again soon. No wonder so many local athletes who have become 
     professionals never let another doctor take their temperature 
     until they checked with him.
       Griffith was not Dr. Dunkenstein, the 1980 college 
     basketball player of the year, when he met Ellis. Griffith 
     was a terrified Male High School sophomore wincing from every 
     breath after taking a hard shoulder to his chest at practice.
       ``You look a little worried, son,'' Ellis said after Wade 
     Houston, the Male coach, brought Griffith to the office. 
     ``Well, you're going to live. In fact, you'll be fine.''
       ``Dr. Ellis wasn't in medicine for the money,'' Griffith 
     said. ``He was really in medicine to help people. When you 
     looked in his eyes, you saw he really cared about you.''
       Ask any high school athlete who attended Super Saturday. 
     For at least the past 15 years, Ellis organized a battalion 
     of local doctors and trainers who provided physical 
     examinations for any high school athlete. He insisted that 
     the Super Saturdays be staged three times a year so athletes 
     from fall, winter and spring sports were covered. Watkins 
     said the doctors examined 1,500 to 2,000 students at each 
     session.
       At each free session, that is.
       ``There aren't many people like Rudy Ellis,'' Watkins said. 
     ``He truly believed it was his responsibility that every 
     athlete had quality medical care.''
       ``Louisville has lost a great man,'' Griffith said.
       And Louisville has lost a great friend.

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