Marion Earl "Hoot" Ellis, 88 died Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2014 at Mennonite Friendship Communities. He was born Oct. 29, 1925, in Garden City, Kansas, the son of Alfred and Effa Behm Ellis.

He was a 1944 graduate of Newton High School, a member of Tenth Avenue United Methodist Church, Hutchinson, and McPherson Gem and Mineral Society, Quivira Council Boy Scouts, Newton, and had served in the Asiatic Pacific Theater with the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II and was awarded a Purple Heart for wounds suffered on Okinawa. Marion had been a newspaper pressman all his working life with 20 years at the Newton Kansan and retired with 22 years of service from The Hutchinson News in 1988.

On Jan. 5, 1947, he married Ruth Millert in Hutchinson. She survives. Other survivors include: their children and spouses, Pat and Bruce Klosterhoff, Dennis and Debi Ellis and a sister, Hazel Ashens, all of Hutchinson; a brother, Wayne of Wichita; sister-in-law, Carol Ellis of Hesston; four grandchildren, Matthew and Karla Zamora, Tim and Maggie Zamora, Suzette Ellis, Alisha and Paul Kendall, three step-grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and five step-great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, Keith; a brother-in-law, Frank Ashens; and sister-in-law, Ila Faye Ellis.

Memorial service will be 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5, 2014, at Elliott Chapel, Hutchinson, with Reverend Richard Brooks presiding. Cremation has taken place. Private interment will be at Penwell-Gabel Mausoleum and Cemetery, Hutchinson, with honors by the United States Marine Corps Honors Team. His register book will be available to sign from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at Elliott Mortuary.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Forest Park Conference and Retreat Center (where Marion met Ruth 69 years ago and had supported and attended ever since), in care of Elliott Mortuary, 1219 N. Main, Hutchinson, KS 67501