Ellis Dewayne Murray, of Harrison, died Sunday evening, April 10 (2011) at Hospice of the Hills House in Harrison. He was 71 years old.
A memorial gathering will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 14, at Holt Memorial Chapel.
Mr. Murray was born April 30, 1939, at Murray. He was the second child born to Cecil Arlis Murray and Nora Taylor Murray. After high school at Deer, Ellis worked in Kansas City and attended Kansas City Technical College where he studied computers and word processing.
He served in the military during the Vietnam conflict and was stationed at Fort Richardson, Alaska, where he was in the Quartermaster Corps, which furnished supplies and equipment to Vietnam. He was discharged in 1964 and returned to Kansas City.
In 1966, he moved to Orange County, Calif., where he worked in manufacturing prior to starting his own construction company, Ellis Construction Company. He built and remodeled homes and then began remodeling and building restaurants along the Interstate 5 corridor on the West Coast from the Mexican to Canadian border. He returned to Arkansas in 1990 and in 1995, opened Bottini’s Restaurant, until he retired in 2008. He loved working with his mules and horses. He will be remembered as an enthusiastic horseman and sportsman.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
He is survived by his wife, Ann Burnett Murray; his daughters, Dana Bottini and Erin Billings; his granddaughter, Sydney Smith and his grandsons, Eil Smith, Taylor Bottini and Andrew Bottini; his sister, Fern Murray Breedlove and her husband, Arlo of Wayton; and a host of relatives and friends.
Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of the Hills House at 501 East Sherman, Harrison, AR 72601.
Cremation and arrangements are by Holt Memorial Chapel.
