STRONG — Rebecca J. Pillsbury Ellis, 85, of Strong, passed away Jan. 28, at the home of her son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Boyd Sr. of Strong, after a brief and courageous battle with cancer.

She was born in Upper Dallas Plantation on July 4, 1926, one of nine children born to Paul and Charlotte Lamb Pillsbury. She attended school in Dallas Plantation and on March 4, 1942, was married to Sayward Ellis of Rangeley in Phillips. They were married for 48 years before Sayward’s death on August 23, 1990.

In 1950 they moved to Strong and raised three sons and a daughter on their farm on Norton Hill. Rebecca was employed in several local mills and retired from G.H. Bass Co. in Wilton. She was one of the original members of the Strong Church of the Nazarene and was proud to be a homemaker.

She is survived by two sons, Mark and his wife, Patricia, and Richard and his wife, Gail, all of Strong; a daughter, Judith and her husband, Robert Boyd Sr. of Strong; a daughter-in-law, Helen Ellis of Friendship; 10 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; four great-great-grandchildren; three sisters, Marie Campbell and Lucreatia Dudley, both of Phillips, and Marilyn Howard and her husband, Pete, of Strong; four sisters-in-law, Hazel and Helen Pillsbury, both of Strong, Greta Pratt and her husband, Rodney, of Weld, and Betty Aho of Mass.; brothers-in-law, Ira Berry of Auburn (who passed recently), Harry Ellis and his wife, Jean, of New Vineyard, and Paul Ellis and his wife, Lillian, of Rangeley; and many nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her parents; her husband, Sayward; a son, Neil; her brothers, C. Oscar Pillsbury, Arlo Pillsbury and Kendall Pillsbury; her sisters, Rowena Presby and Lillian Berry; and a half-sister, Emma Autote.

Condolences may be made to the family at www.adamsmcfarlane.com.