Eric Ellis
Page created by
Jane Gallimore on 28/10/2009
Welcome to the Gift of Hope Heart Fund which has been set up in memory of Eric Ellis, who died aged 96 on July 26th, 2009. Born in West Butterwick, Eric came from a farming family and graduated from Leeds City Training College in 1933. He taught in Crowle before and after the war until in 1955 he left to take up the post of Headmaster at Donington-on-Bain Primary School, which he held until his retirement in 1974. During World War II he was a radio operations officer at RAF Cranwell and later saw active service in Belgium and Holland. A staunch supporter of organic gardening and farming methods, Eric was a long-standing member of the Soil Association and Henry Doubleday Research Association. Reflecting his love of plants, the school campus at Donington in the Sixties must have been one of the most attractive learning environments in Lincolnshire, with elegant rose borders and a crocus lawn as the centrepiece of the main quadrangle. His belief in the importance of educating the next generation about the natural world in general and vegetable growing in particular led to the establishment of individual garden plots for the juniors and observation beehives in the classrooms. Outside the classroom, involvement in the local community always went hand-in-hand with his teaching career, from running sports teams in Crowle to being Chairman of the Village Hall Committee in Donington. In retirement his independence was very important to him, and all those who saw him on a regular basis knew how much he appreciated being able to live an active and fulfilling life in his own home right up to his last weeks. This fund has been set up to raise money for the British Heart Foundation to help them in their fight against heart disease. Please make an online donation in Eric's memory if you can. Thank you.
Donations
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£30.00
Mrs Felicity Spencer
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£0.00
Rex & Nancy Harrison
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£0.00
Queenie Spink
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£0.00
Hazel Snowden
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£0.00
John Mundey