Douglas Ellis

Born in 1923 at Shawville, Quebec, Douglas Ellis was educated at Montreal Public Schools and at the High School of Montreal. He held degrees in Classics from McGill University, the University of Toronto and Yale and had fellowships at Cornell and Michigan University at both of which he studied Linguistics. He studied Theology at Trinity College, Toronto and Cambridge University. Ordained to the priesthood in 1948, he served at St. Matthias Church in Westmount (Montreal) and for several years at Albany Post on James Bay in the Diocese of Moosonee. In 1953 he was married to Joan Allton of Montreal West.

From 1959 to 1963 Dr. Ellis taught Linguistics in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto and from 1963 to 1991 at McGill University. From 1964 to 1968 he served as Vice-Dean for the Humanities Division in the then Faculty of Arts and Science and was also co-founder of the Department of Linguistics which he chaired for over a decade. On his retirement Dr. Ellis was appointed Emeritus Professor at McGill. He later served as Adjunct Research Professor at Carleton University, Ottawa.

Author of publications in Classics and Linguistics, Dr. Ellis’s specific focus for many years was on Cree, the most widely spoken aboriginal language in Canada. Among his better known publications are âtalôhkâna nêsta tipâcimôwina / Cree Legends and Narratives and Spoken Cree, the latter a three-level Cree Language course. Dr. Ellis is survived by his wife Joan, daughter Marilyn (Lynn) Favreau and son-in-law Dr. L.V. Favreau, of Scotch Plains, New Jersey, by his son, John Douglas and wife Fanny of Hollywood Florida and by grandsons Gregory Favreau of Nashville, TN and Alexander Favreau of Philadelphia, PA. A Celebration of his Life will be held in the Chapel of Tubman Funeral Homes, 3440 Richmond Road, Nepean on Friday, June 7, 2024 at 2:30 p.m.