Margaret Parish Ellis

Margaret Parish Ellis, 69, died at Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula on February 24, 2016, following several months of illness. She was the widow of Edgar Linwood Ellis, who died in 1994. The funeral service and burial will occur at Bear Creek Baptist Church, McCool (Attala County), Mississippi, on Monday, February 29, 2016. Visitation will be from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon with service commencing immediately afterwards. A celebration of the life of Mrs. Ellis will be conducted at Arlington Heights Baptist in Pascagoula on Wednesday, March 2, 2016, at 11 o'clock a.m. Mrs. Ellis was born in Attala County, Mississippi, on December 30, 1946, to Joel A. Parish and Ginger Powers Parish. She was preceded in death by her parents and by an older brother, Joel Parish. Survivors include two sons, Jeffrey L. Ellis of Pascagoula and James E. Ellis of Columbus, Ohio, a daughter-in-law, Tracy Ellis, and three grandchildren: Ryan Ellis, Bailey Elizabeth Ellis, and Adyson Ellis. In addition she is survived by her brother, Jerry Parish and wife, Diane, of Attala County, numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins, and her dear friends (a/k/a the "Butt Sisters") Linda Kuykendall, Susie Stewart, Sudy Krebs Sykes, the late Carol Ann Larson and the late Pat Ord. She was a proud graduate of Ethel High School. From very humble beginnings in rural Mississippi Mrs. Ellis became one of the best-known attorneys in her state. Early in their marriage she and Linwood Ellis resided in Jackson, during which Margaret worked in a drug store. Some years after they had relocated to the Gulf Coast she became employed as a part-time secretary in an attorney's office, where it became apparent that she had a talent for quickly grasping and applying legal concepts. Hoping to pursue a career in the legal profession, she studied at Gulf Coast Community College and the University of Southern Mississippi, then began a rigorous course of legal study prescribed by the Mississippi Bar. In 1983, she took and passed the Mississippi Bar Examination, becoming the last person in Mississippi to become licensed to practice law under the Bar's preceptor program. For the next twenty-five years Mrs. Ellis practiced law in Pascagoula and Jackson, then was appointed Special Assistant Attorney General by Mississippi's Attorney General, Jim Hood, a position she held until the time of her death. Throughout her legal career Mrs. Ellis was a member in good standing of the Mississippi Bar and, during her years in private practice, was active in the American Association for Justice and the Mississippi Association for Justice. She was elected to every office in the chain of command of the Mississippi Association for Justice, and in 1994 became the first female president in the history of that organization. The family would like to express their sincere appreciation to the doctors and staff at Singing River Hospital for not only their exceptional medical care but also the love and compassion they exhibited to our mother and to us over the past six weeks. The Ellis family requests that memorial contributions be made to Bear Creek Baptist Church, 2742 Attala Road 2132, McCool, Mississippi 39108, and/or Arlington Heights Baptist Church, 3819 Arlington Street, Pascagoula, Mississippi 39581.