Career
He served in the United States. Navy from 1943 to 1949 as a photographer. During this time he participated in the landings at the Battle of Okinawa. Most notably, he was a photographer on Operation Highjump, becoming one of the first people to visually document Antarctica.
The Ellis Fjord and the Ellis Glacier are named after him.
After the South Pole, he went to Norfolk, and was part of the crew that commissioned the United States Ship Coral Sea (CV-43). The land it sat on is now owned by Cardinal Lanes.
As an Inventor he holds a patent for an awning support system. He died April 2, 1989 in Paducah, Kentucky.