Charles Thomas Ellis

Mr. Charles Ellis, 94, of Sedalia, KY formerly of Paris died Saturday, March 7, 2020, at Jackson Purchase Medical Center.

Services will be held at noon on Saturday, March 14, 2020, at Rawls Funeral Home Chapel. Interment will follow in Murray Memorial Gardens in Murray, KY.

Visitation will begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday in Rawls Funeral Home Chapel.

Charles was born March 25, 1925 to the late Arlester Ellis and Novella Van Dyke Ellis in Henry County, Tennessee. He was educated in the Henry County School System and the Henry County Veterans School.

He professed a hope in Christ at an early age and united with the Cedar Hill Baptist Church in Cottage Grove, Tennessee. Charles loved discussing the Bible and comparing it to things in society. He loved fishing and never met a stranger. He loved people in general and could strike up a conversation with anyone.

Charles was drafted in the United States Armed Forces where he served in the U S Navy from 1943 to 1946. He was a guard at the base where the United States made the airplane that would bomb Japan. In 2018 Charles was honored as the Grand Marshal of the Sedalia Day Parade for his time served in World War II. He was a member of the American Legion in Mayfield, Kentucky. He was affectionately known to all the people in Sedalia and surrounding areas as “Tennessee”. After returning from World War II Charles was united in holy matrimony to Thylee Guthrie. At this time he was a tobacco farmer in Kentucky. They moved to Chicago, Illinois where he worked for the Illinois Department of Transportation building highways in the State of Illinois. You could always hear him talking about the long days of hard work building the Dan Ryan Turnpike and the Eisenhower Highway while in Chicago. After retiring from the Department of Transportation Charles moved back to Kentucky and did a little more tobacco farming helping out other farmers in the Sedalia area. While living at the family home in Sedalia, he would love to jump in his Chrysler and take a drive to Jackson to see his sister and would tell her “I may drop in any time”. He would sit and talk, have her fix him a meal and then jump back in his Chrysler and head back to Sedalia.

Charles was the oldest of five children and was preceded in death by his parents, a brother Carl Edward (Katie) Ellis, sisters Willa Dean (John) Wilson, and Betty Jean Ellis.

He leaves to cherish his memories: wife Thylee Guthrie Ellis; a sister Dorothy L. (James) Douglass; daughter, Peggy Tharpe;close friend and caregiver Rosemary Henley. He also leaves several grandchildren, a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends who will always hold special memories.

Rawls Funeral Home - Paris 731-642-1515