Joy Lenoa Ellis, 61, of Chugwater, passed away on June 4, 2012, at the Davis Hospice Center from complication of ovarian cancer.

Joy was born December15, 1950, in Cheyenne to Robert and Leona (Arnold) Lowe. She spent her childhood in Cheyenne, WY, a member of the Archer Busy Bees 4-H Club, honing her skills in baking, sewing and teaching. She graduated from Cheyenne East High School in 1969, and from the University of Wyoming in 1974 with a degree in Elementary Education.

While at UW, Joy was active in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, where she met Philip M. Ellis of Chugwater. They married on June 8, 1974 and moved to Cheyenne, where she started her teaching career. She taught kindergarten until the birth of their daughter, Amanda in 1979, and Sarah, in 1983.

The family moved to her husband’s family ranch in 1987, and she continued her role as a wife, mother, and teacher. She homeschooled both daughters form kindergarten through the 2nd grade, introducing them to a lifetime of learning, exploring, and reading. When her daughters went to Chugwater Elementary, she began her career there, working as an aide, a substitute, a 5th and 6th grade teacher, and finally as the kindergarten teacher from 1998 until her death.

Joy was a serious and intentional Christian, who read on living with Jesus voraciously, sharing books with her family and encouraging and inspiring their faith. She was a member of the Chugwater Valley Church.
Joy excelled at the art of homemaking, from birthday cakes and butterhorns to the dresses she sewed for her daughters. She was passionate about teaching, committed to her students through her whole career. Her classroom was an inviting spot that stimulated the minds and spoke to her creativity.

Joy is survived by her husband, Philip; her daughters, Amanda Pollard and her husband, Mark, of Greeley, and Sarah Booth and her husband, Samuel, of Denver; her grandsons, Lincoln Ellis Pollard and Ellison Samuel Booth; her parents Robert and Leona Lowe of Cheyenne; her brothers Robin Lowe and Royal Lowe, and his wife Bonny, both of Cheyenne; her mother-in-law, Pat Ellis, of Cheyenne; her sister-in-law, Carolyn Nix, and her husband, Tim, of Wheatland and Susan Mathews and her husband, Bill, of Anchorage, AK, and nine nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be Thursday, June 7, 2012, from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Schrader Funeral Home. A graveside service will be held at 10:00 a.m. Friday, June 8th, at Lakeview Cemetery followed by a memorial service at 2:00 p.m. at the Chugwater School with Pastor Mike Baber officiating.

Memorials may be sent to the Chugwater School Foundation, in care of the Oregon Trail Bank, P.O. Box 217, Chugwater, WY 82210.

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