Tommy Ellis, the chair of the Thompson Public Library Board, was killed last Friday evening in an accident on Provincial Route 391 near Thompson, doing what he loved to do: Running.
Thompson RCMP continue to investigate the accident. At 5:35 p.m. Nov.13, RCMP were dispatched to a report of a motor vehicle collision involving a pedestrian on Provincial Road 391, about two kilometres north of Thompson. Ellis, of Thompson, was found dead at the scene. The driver of the northbound vehicle involved in the collision is a 45-year-old man, also from Thompson.
RCMP are continuing to investigate with the help of a collision analyst. Alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the collision, but poor visibility may have been. No charges have been laid.
Ellis, a Sayisi Dene, was born in Churchill and spent his early years in Dene Village where his uncle, the late Joe Ellis, who taught him how to live and thrive in the Northern wilderness, raised him. He spent his early teen years in Yellowknife with his foster parents Joe and Maggie Wiebe. He moved to Winnipeg at 16 to be closer to his mother, Sarah Ellis.
After high school in Winnipeg, Ellis attended Brandon University.
He later relocated from Dene Village to Tadoule Lake, the traditional grounds of his people.
Ellis' wife, Marion, who works as vice-president of acute health services and chief nursing officer with the Burntwood Regional Health Authority, says her husband was out for a run when he was killed.
"Tommy was doing something he loved to do," she says. "Running gave him a sense of freedom. We will miss him so much."
He started dating Marion in 1984 and they were married in Lynn Lake where they lived until they moved to Thompson in 1992. In addition to his first daughter Tamara, Tommy and Marion have two daughters, Ursula and Micheal.
Ellis was well known in the community, working for the federal government at Service Canada and serving as the chairperson for the Thompson Public Library board of trustees.
