Patricia Washburn Ellis' Obituary
Patricia Washburn Ellis, aged 99 1/2 years old, entered into the “Joy Of The Lord” on September 19, 2025, at Lee Memorial Hospital after a prolonged illness. Patricia was born on February 12, 1926, to Eugene V. and Mildred Richardson Washburn at the original Fort Myers Lee Memorial Hospital.
Born into a family of early Lee County pioneers, Pat’s family on her mom’s side arrived in Fort Myers in 1910 from Kentucky. Her grandfather, Simmons W. Richardson, purchased the first water plant (Fort Myers Beach Waterworks) on Fort Myers Beach consisting of 25 meters at the time in 1932, and operated it until his death. Pat’s father Gene Washburn continued the operation of the beach waterworks until it was acquired by Fl Cities in 1968. Mr. Richardson also served as a county commissioner and was a member of the board when the Tamiami Trail opened in 1928, two years after the birth of his granddaughter. The Richardson also had orange groves in East Fort Myers and Patricia’s grandmother Amanda D. Richardson would take the neighborhood children to school in a horse drawn wagon, designated as Fort Myers First School Bus. Pat’s paternal aunt, Ruth Washburn, was an early registered female pharmacist in Florida and opened Washburn’s Pharmacy in downtown Fort Myers in the 1920’s, located for her last 31 years of business in a building on the corner of Main and Henry Streets which was bulldozed in 1977.
Patricia graduated from Fort Myers High School in 1943 and married James D Ellis, an earlier graduate of Fort Myers High, at the time a cadet pilot in the Air Force stationed in South Carolina during WWII. James and Patricia were married for over 50 years before he passed in 1997 after his retirement from the Post Office. While married and raising a family, they enjoyed boating and fishing, building and racing swamp buggies in Naples, trips to the Everglades in their “woods buggy” and in later years collecting antiques in central and south Florida.
Patricia was an active member of the original First Baptist Church in downtown Fort Myers where her grandfather sang in the choir. After her husband passed she volunteered for years delivering flowers to the homebound parishioners and to nursing homes. She was a member of both the Southwest FL Historical Society and the Pioneer Club of Lee County honoring those who have lived in Lee County at least 50 years. She attended the annual “Cracker Dinner” and Pioneer Picnic for years with her husband and later her friends and daughters. After the sale of the beach waterworks, Patricia worked for and later retired from the utilities department at Fort Myers City Hall. After her retirement she was a member of several ladies luncheon groups both from work and church. She was also a member of the Fort Myers Women’s Community Club for a short time where her mother had been a member for years.
Patricia was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, James D. Ellis; and her son James E. Ellis. She is survived by her daughters Sandra Ellis Alley (Granville, deceased) and Cheryl C. Ellis, both of Fort Myers; and her sister, Amanda Washburn Hurd (Sam) of Boston. She is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews, including several great and great great, in four different states.
Services will be private at Memorial Gardens on Thursday, September 25, 2025. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the local Gulf Coast Humane Society or the charity of your choice. Patricia was a generous friend and dearly loved her family and her pets, particularly her dogs. A woman of God, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
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