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Show Ellis donates $1000 to library ! Wayne T. Ellis, former resident of Pleasant Grove, has donated $1,000 to the library construction fund, according to Drucilla Smith, city librarian. Mr. Ellis, 83, now lives in a retirement home in Orem. He was born and raised in Pleasant Grove. He donated the money to the library because it seemed like a good project, it made him feel good to do it, and he hopes that others will follow suit. Mr. Ellis said that he knows there are people in Pleasant Grove who have the finances to make a similar donation to the library and encouraged en-couraged them to do so. The city council has announced that it will be conducting a fun-draising fun-draising campaign for the library. A donation of $1,000 in memory of someone living or deceased, will make possible a picture of the person and a short biography on display. Other donations have been labeled Benefactor, $500; Donor, $100; Friend, $50; or any other amount will be highly appreciated, also. Mr. Ellis sent a letter to the library along with his check. In the letter he said, "I hope this little token will be beneficial to the people of Pleasant Grove and help them, both old and young." He came back to Utah and worked at Mercur and later bought a farm in Orem. He raised fruit and vegetables and had a fruit stand. He helped in the construction of Geneva Steel Plant for two years when he worked for the Chicago Asbestos Supply doing insulation work. He also worked as an insulation in-sulation mechanic in Salt Lake City for 15 years, mostly in the winter. He suffers now from lung disease as a result of working with the asbestos insulation for so long. When his arthritis made it impossible im-possible for him to continue working on his farm, he sold the property about three years ago. Since his hobby is reading, he says he does a lot of it, it is no wonder he made such a substantial contribution con-tribution to the library. Mr. Ellis said he is the only child of Will and Anna Christiansen Ellis who is still living. There were nine children in the family and four of them died in one week in 1905 of diptheria. He was one year old at the time and did not get the disease. Other members of the family did get it but recovered. He said that since he has no children to give his money to, he felt that the Pleasant Grove Library was a good place for it to go and it made him feel very good to donate it. Wayne T. Ellis He graduated from Pleasant Grove High School in 1923. He also graduated from Utah State University (Utah State Agricultural College) with a double major in agronomy and botany in 1931. He was married to Susa Downs of Orem after he graduated from college. She died in 1978. They had no children. He first worked in Idaho in the shoe business. He did that for seven years until the company was sold. |