Mr. Ellis Coleman Leatherwood Jr.'s Obituary
E.C. Leatherwood Jr (Ellis) passed away on Tuesday, December 10, 2019. He was born March 28, 1924 in Yorktown, Texas to E. C. Leatherwood, Sr. and Ola Ferguson Leatherwood.
He was preceded by his parents, two infant sons, his wife of almost 65 years, and his oldest son, Ray. Ellis’ two older brothers and their spouses also pre-deceased him. Granville and Marcella Leatherwood and Joe Zerlene Leatherwood.
Ellis is survived by his son Dale Leatherwood, Ray’s widow Linda Leatherwood; grandchildren Che Ho Pak, Che Song Pak, Bret Leatherwood (Teresa), and Alexis Dawson (Rusty); 13 great grandchildren, eight great-great grandchildren with two more on the way, as well as nieces and nephews.
In his teen years Ellis was good friends with Bob Lanier who would become mayor of Houston. Ellis lived in Baytown and graduated from R. E. Lee High School before moving back to Yorktown with his parents.
Ellis served during World War II in the U.S. Army on the island of Okinawa. When he was discharged from the army he and Dora Franke were married and started their family and owning their own restaurant which would be the start of a lifetime in food service. Later they left Yorktown and moved to several different Texas towns as Ellis worked at different jobs to earn the funds needed to provide for his family. After a while a position opened at the Elks Lodge in then downtown Houston for a restaurant manager. After a number of years, he was enticed by the owners of the senior facility, Tarrytown, to be the manager of the food service.
Ellis retired from serving others to sit on the patio and enjoy the view in his backyard bedecked with all the lovely flowers Dora had planted. He also had time to finally be able to watch his Astros. He loved his sweets.
His wishes after he passed are for no service and a private burial in the VA cemetery.
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