Willa Dean “Deanie” Ellis, 91, of Warrensburg, Missouri, died Monday, April 13, at Harmony Gardens Assisted Living in Warrensburg.

Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Saturday, April 18, at First United Methodist Church in Warrensburg with the Rev. Louie Lowe officiating. Interment will follow in Warrensburg Memorial Gardens.
The family will receive friends from 6-8 p.m. Friday at Williams Funeral Chapel in Warrensburg.
Deanie was born Nov. 4, 1923, in Peru, Kansas, the daughter of William Albert Smith and Luda Mae (Barker) Smith. At an early age, she moved with her family to Grain Valley, Missouri. They relocated to Odessa where she graduated from Odessa High School. Deanie attended Chillicothe Business College for two years. Following college, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked for the Civil Service for five years, during which time she advanced to assistant to the chief of her division in the Navy department.
She eventually moved to the Columbus Community near Centerview. She was united in marriage to Gerald D. Ellis on April 21, 1946, in Warrensburg. The couple purchased a farm near Columbus and raised their family. She was employed with Western Electric for 10 years. In 1981, Deanie and Gerald retired from farming and moved to Warrensburg.
She was a member of Jacoby Chapel Presbyterian Church for nearly 45 years where she served as an elder at one time and was an active volunteer. Later, she was a member of First United Methodist Church in Warrensburg, again volunteering in many capacities. Deanie loved playing cards, gardening, growing flowers and “”Going to Coke”” with her girlfriends. She was also a member of the Greendoor Extention Club and the United Methodist Women. Deanie loved to cook and was well-known for her pies and homemade rolls.
Survivors include three sons, Roger Dwayne Ellis and wife, Anita, of Centerview; Randy Dale Ellis and wife, Frances, of Warrensburg; and Jerry Dean Ellis and wife, Rachel, of Centerview; six grandchildren, three stepgrandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and seven stepgreat-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Gerald; two sisters, Bonnie Geddes and Lorna Tye; brother, William E. Smith; two grandchildren, Stacy Ellis and Kimberly Ellis and daughter-in-law, Carolyn Ellis.
Memorial contributions are suggested to First United Methodist Church in Warrensburg or Show-Me Christian Youth Home in La Monte.
Online condolences may be left at www.williamsfuneralchapel.net