During his 82 years, U. Cato Ellis never feared trying something new. He spent his life challenging himself in a variety of unrelated jobs from elementary school principal to banker to cotton gin owner to politician. One of his more satisfying accomplishment was serving as the U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Tennessee during the turbulent civil rights era. Mr. Ellis died Thursday of complications from emphysema at his home in Munford, Tenn. He was 82. It was Mr. Ellis who served an injunction notice to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. outside his room at the Loraine Motel ordering him not to march in Memphis during the sanitation strike in 1968. "He served him the paper on the very place where he was shot. I remember he called back to our house and told my family to stay put. He knew there was trouble brewing," said his son, Cato Ellis Jr. Mr. Ellis, a longtime Democrat, was appointed under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson and served from May 1961 until October 1969 as U.S. marshal. "His service as a U.S. marshal was the highlight of his life," said his son. "He enjoyed the camaraderie with the lawyers and judges in the federal and state court systems." Mr. Ellis started out in politics as a member of the Tipton County Court in the 1930s. During the 1940s, he served as mayor of Munford. In the 1950s, he was appointed by Gov. Gordon Browning as district manager of Tennessee Employment Security in Memphis. He also served a two-year term (1951-52) as a state representative in the Tennessee General Assembly. Born in Munford to a businessman and homemaker, Mr. Ellis attended what was then Normal College and now is the University of Memphis. At the age of 18, he taught school in Memphis and a few years later became principal of Munford Elementary School.
"My daddy had a lot of varied interest. He did and tried a lot of things. He was very interested in our community and the county. He loved farming," said Cato Ellis Jr. "He didn't mind trying different things. He thought he could improve himself." Mr. Ellis also served in several capacities at the Munford Union Bank. He was board chairman and director emeritus before retiring in the late 1980s. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Munford First United Methodist Church with burial in Helen Crigger Cemetery. In addition to his son, Mr. Ellis, the husband of Sue Bibb Ellis for 58 years, also leaves two daughters, Clara Jo Billings of Munford and Frankie Wade of Jackson; a sister, Carolyn Ellis Murphy, and a brother, Robert L. Ellis, both of Munford, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. (By Lela Garlington, Published in The Commercial Appeal, 9/22/1995)
"My daddy had a lot of varied interest. He did and tried a lot of things. He was very interested in our community and the county. He loved farming," said Cato Ellis Jr. "He didn't mind trying different things. He thought he could improve himself." Mr. Ellis also served in several capacities at the Munford Union Bank. He was board chairman and director emeritus before retiring in the late 1980s. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Munford First United Methodist Church with burial in Helen Crigger Cemetery. In addition to his son, Mr. Ellis, the husband of Sue Bibb Ellis for 58 years, also leaves two daughters, Clara Jo Billings of Munford and Frankie Wade of Jackson; a sister, Carolyn Ellis Murphy, and a brother, Robert L. Ellis, both of Munford, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. (By Lela Garlington, Published in The Commercial Appeal, 9/22/1995)
During his 82 years, U. Cato Ellis never feared trying something new. He spent his life challenging himself in a variety of unrelated jobs from elementary school principal to banker to cotton gin owner to politician. One of his more satisfying accomplishment was serving as the U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Tennessee during the turbulent civil rights era. Mr. Ellis died Thursday of complications from emphysema at his home in Munford, Tenn. He was 82. It was Mr. Ellis who served an injunction notice to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. outside his room at the Loraine Motel ordering him not to march in Memphis during the sanitation strike in 1968. "He served him the paper on the very place where he was shot. I remember he called back to our house and told my family to stay put. He knew there was trouble brewing," said his son, Cato Ellis Jr. Mr. Ellis, a longtime Democrat, was appointed under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson and served from May 1961 until October 1969 as U.S. marshal. "His service as a U.S. marshal was the highlight of his life," said his son. "He enjoyed the camaraderie with the lawyers and judges in the federal and state court systems." Mr. Ellis started out in politics as a member of the Tipton County Court in the 1930s. During the 1940s, he served as mayor of Munford. In the 1950s, he was appointed by Gov. Gordon Browning as district manager of Tennessee Employment Security in Memphis. He also served a two-year term (1951-52) as a state representative in the Tennessee General Assembly. Born in Munford to a businessman and homemaker, Mr. Ellis attended what was then Normal College and now is the University of Memphis. At the age of 18, he taught school in Memphis and a few years later became principal of Munford Elementary School.
"My daddy had a lot of varied interest. He did and tried a lot of things. He was very interested in our community and the county. He loved farming," said Cato Ellis Jr. "He didn't mind trying different things. He thought he could improve himself." Mr. Ellis also served in several capacities at the Munford Union Bank. He was board chairman and director emeritus before retiring in the late 1980s. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Munford First United Methodist Church with burial in Helen Crigger Cemetery. In addition to his son, Mr. Ellis, the husband of Sue Bibb Ellis for 58 years, also leaves two daughters, Clara Jo Billings of Munford and Frankie Wade of Jackson; a sister, Carolyn Ellis Murphy, and a brother, Robert L. Ellis, both of Munford, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. (By Lela Garlington, Published in The Commercial Appeal, 9/22/1995)
"My daddy had a lot of varied interest. He did and tried a lot of things. He was very interested in our community and the county. He loved farming," said Cato Ellis Jr. "He didn't mind trying different things. He thought he could improve himself." Mr. Ellis also served in several capacities at the Munford Union Bank. He was board chairman and director emeritus before retiring in the late 1980s. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Munford First United Methodist Church with burial in Helen Crigger Cemetery. In addition to his son, Mr. Ellis, the husband of Sue Bibb Ellis for 58 years, also leaves two daughters, Clara Jo Billings of Munford and Frankie Wade of Jackson; a sister, Carolyn Ellis Murphy, and a brother, Robert L. Ellis, both of Munford, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. (By Lela Garlington, Published in The Commercial Appeal, 9/22/1995)
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