Burial services held for legendary Mars firefighter
Firefighters, family, and friends from across the region attended burial services at the Mars Cemetery on Wednesday for Mars firefighter James “Jim” Ellis, who died July 13 after a recent illness.
A longtime member of the Mars Volunteer Fire Company, now the Adams Area Fire District, Ellis served as district’s vice president. He also was a captain with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire and served 25 years with the Pennsylvania Air National Guard.
Ellis was known for his expertise in training, and traveled across Western Pennsylvania and the country to teach other firefighters. In Adams Township, Ellis was an integral part of the company and contributed to the larger project of the building of the new Adams Area fire station on Route 228 — a building known as “Jimmy’s fire house” to many firefighters.
A GoFundMe fundraiser called “Brady and Ryan Ellis Education Fund” has been created to support Ellis’ wife, Cathy Ellis, and his sons, Brady Michael and Ryan James. As of Wednesday, more than $35,000 of the $40,000 goal has been raised from friends and local fire departments to benefit the boys’ high school tuition at Seton LaSalle and future education expenses.
