Charles E. Ellis

Charles E. Ellis, 72, of Kennebunk, died on Monday, October 26, 2015 at his home.Charles was born in Manchester, New Hampshire on November 9, 1942 to Harold and Evelyn (Holoway) Ellis. He attended grades one thru eight in Manchester before his parents moved to Indiana and eventually Somerville, Massachusetts. He graduated from Somerville High School in June, 1961.Charles joined the United States Air Force under a special program attending Officer Training School for advanced airborne training. During his career with the Air Force, Charles was assigned to various airborne wings both in the United States and Europe as well as a tour of duty in the Far East during the Vietnam Conflict. Following an earlier marriage, his beautiful daughter Brenda was born in October 1966 while serving at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois with the Airborne Medical Air Evacuation Wing. He served a total of eight years receiving an honorable discharge in 1969.In 1970, Charles joined an all cargo carrier and was immediately assigned to flight operations domiciled initially in Boston, Massachusetts. His career with the airline involved many moves eventually sending him to the West Coast serving San Francisco and Los Angeles. In 1976, a son Christopher was born while he served with Intercontinental Global Logistics in San Francisco. His role in management with an all cargo carrier was a highlight in his profession where he became very acquainted with Douglas and Boeing equipment. Following the purchase of Seaboard by Flying Tiger Lines, he left the airline joining a major "Fixed Base Operator" opening several stations throughout the USA. His knowledge in the handling of special cargo requirements along with the various aircrafts assigned to handle outsized load requirements led to Charles working as a consultant for NASA at the Kennedy Space Center working directly with Spacehab, Port Canaveral, Florida.Charles later met and married the love of his life, Rita L. Vallee, in 1985 while residing in Manchester, New Hampshire. He continued to work in his field of expertise for several more years, ending his career with United Parcel Service (UPS) in 2005.In 2006, Charles and Rita moved to Sanford, Maine to reunite with family and close friends. From 2006 through 2013 Charles worked for the Town of Sanford in Code Enforcement until the passing of his wife in November 2013. In March of 2014 he was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and remained in Kennebunk until his passing.Charles was predeceased by his wife, Rita Ellis.Surviving are two children, Brenda Baxendale and her husband John of Austin, TX and Christopher Ellis of Friant, CA; two step-daughters, Kristina Kelly and her husband Keith of Manchester, NH and Robin Caissie and her husband Stephen of Strafford, VT; five grandchildren; Breanne Ziemba, Zachary Ziemba, Tray Fisk, Seanna Kelly and Ryan Kelly; three sisters, Joan Gosselin and her husband Richard of Hooksett, NH, Donna Shepherd and her husband George of Manchester, NH and Charlene Hill and her husband Dave of Wakefield, MA; two sisters-in-law, Linda McCann and her husband Eric of Sanford and Doris Thompson of Sanford.At Charles's request, services will be private.Those planning an expression of sympathy are asked to consider sending a memorial contribution to ALS- Maine Collaborative, 60 Western Avenue, Augusta, ME 04330 or VNA Home Health Hospice, P.O. Box 679, Portland, ME 04101-9804.Arrangements are under the direction of Black Funeral Homes and Cremation Service, Sanford-Springvale.To leave a message of condolence for the family please click on the condolences tab to the left.