SOUTH PARIS – Karen McComas Ellis was born on Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945, in Auburn, Indiana. She died on Dec. 16, 2020, in South Paris, Maine. Karen was the daughter of John and Margaret (Wappes) McComas. She had an older sister, Martha, whom she admired for her dedication to the nursing profession.

Karen grew up within the schools of Auburn, Indiana, and in the United Methodist Church. She tap danced, played basketball, and served as president of the Indiana Methodist Youth Fellowship. She went to concerts at Buck Lake Ranch, where she once touched the hand of Ricky Nelson.

She attended Defiance College in Defiance, Ohio, where she majored in elementary education. There she met John Ellis. Together, they taught the preschool class at the United Church of Christ. They were married on June 25, 1966, in Auburn, Indiana, and graduated in 1967 from Defiance College.

In the summer of 1967, Karen served as director and teacher of a Head Start program for migrant children.

They moved to the Boston area where John attended seminary and Karen taught third grade in Sudbury, Massachusetts. Their son, Timothy, was born in Boston in 1969. Karen and other seminary wives formed a clown club and Karen became a member of Clowns of America.

Karen and John moved to South Portland, Maine, in 1970. Karen worked as a preschool teacher and recreational therapist at Maine Medical Center, and she started a clown club at First Congregational Church. Their son, Andrew, was born in Portland in 1972.

In 1976, Karen and John moved to Norway, Maine, where Karen raised her children, supported her husband’s ministry, volunteered in the schools, taught Sunday School, and became a Cub Scout leader. Karen gave birth to a third son, Michael McComas Ellis, who died on the day he was born, May 1, 1978.

In 1978, Karen began teaching second grade in the Oxford Hills School District at the Oxford and Norway schools. She retired in 2005. In 1988, she was a semifinalist for Maine Teacher of the Year.

She stayed in touch with many of her former students over the years and offered her support to former students who became teachers in Maine and beyond.

Karen served for over 30 years on the Board of Directors of Right Start, developing programs related to children’s literacy, including book swaps that invited children to bring a book and get a book, and summer tutoring in all the district schools. Her favorite book was Charlotte’s Web, which she read aloud to 37 different classes over her years of teaching and volunteering in schools.

Karen learned basket weaving in the adult education program and went on to teach basket weaving to children in the LOOK program and to adults at Star Island United Church of Christ conferences for many years. Star Island was her spiritual home where she made many friends and shared her gifts with others.

She was well known for sending many cards and hand-written notes, and as Wilbur the pig said about Charlotte, “She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer.”

Karen is survived by her husband, John, her sons, Timothy and Andrew, their wives, Michelle and Kiersten, and her grandchildren, Maggie and Charlie.

Karen’s family is grateful for the support of friends at Second Congregational Church of Norway, the wonderful oncology team at Stephens Memorial Hospital, the Cancer Resource Center, and the staff of Androscoggin Hospice.

A memorial service for Karen will be posted on her Facebook page on Monday, Dec. 28.

Arrangements are under the care of Chandler Funeral Homes & Cremation Service, 45 Main St., South Paris. Online condolences may be shared with her family at http://www.chandlerfunerals.com

Gifts in Karen’s memory may be made to Right Start Children’s Literacy Fund at

P.O. Box 726,

Norway, ME 04268.

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