Maurice Ellingson

Maurice Verne Ellingson, a 60-year citizen of Fargo, passed away at his residence in Marietta, Georgia, on November 9 at the age of 85. He was born in Fargo on November 20, 1925. His father held retail positions in small towns in eastern North Dakota and he spent his teenage years in the city of Adams. He never learned to swim. Nevertheless, 10 days shy of his 18th birthday, he enlisted in the United States Navy in November 1943. He later laughed about the fact that at his naval training camp he paid another enlistee five dollars to take his swimming test for him. He was assigned to the personal communications crew of Commodore Homer W. Graf, commander of Transport Division 23, which carried beach-landing troops throughout the Pacific Theater. Maurice conducted radio, semaphore and flag communications ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore. He was aboard the attack transport USS Zeilin, then command center of Transport Division 23, during the Marshall Islands assault in January 1944, the attack on Guam in July 1944, and the invasion of Luzon in January 1945. Leaving that engagement on January 13, the USS Zeilin was struck by a Japanese kamikaze plane, and the impact killed 10 crew members, injured 30 more, and destroyed the ship’s housetop. Commodore Graf and his communications crew were transferred one-by-one to another ship on a bucket seat hanging from a metal cable, and Maurice later recalled how frightening the ride was. Transport Division 23 later landed troops at Iowa Jima in March 1945, during which he spent days on the beach under enemy fire handling communications from the ship to shore commanders. He also spent two weeks in occupied Japan that summer, before the squadron sailed back to San Diego. After the war, he settled in Fargo and took accounting classes at Dakota Business College. He met and married Lois Grinde from Portland, worked in accounting at a local auto dealership, purchased a home on 24th Avenue North, then Fargo’s northern edge, and quit his job to purchase a franchise accounting business. From that point until his mid-70s, he worked as an independent public accountant, earning a reputation for honesty, professional knowledge, hard work and great customer service. He and his wife joined Olivet Lutheran Church, where he served as treasurer. In 1958, they became founding members of Hope Lutheran Church on the north side of town, where he worked as treasurer for 35 years. A talented amateur baseball player, he played pitcher and outfielder for the Adams city team during a couple years following his military discharge, then pitched for a number of teams in Fargo, including the U.S. military-sponsored team. An avid coin collector, he served in officer roles on the Board of Directors of the Red River Valley Coin Club. He and his wife also served with the Fargo Sons of Norway. He loved to golf and introduced his sons to the sport. He was known for being able to hit 300-yard drives and miss two-foot putts. After age 65, he was a regular on the Red River Valley Senior Golf Tour. He and his wife gave a great deal of time to helping friends and relatives as they aged, and he served as power-of-attorney and executor for many of them. He was preceded in death by his wife, Lois; by his daughter, Leanne; and by his sister, Delores Huebner. He is survived by a sister; Erma Quincer; sons and daughters-in-law, Paul and Margaret Ellingson, Kent and Kay Ellingson, Brad and Julie Ellingson; by grandchildren, Adam Baumgartner and Nathan, Samantha, Andrew and Rachel Ellingson; and by great-grandchildren, Sidney, Jaxon and Carter Baumgartner. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to Hope Lutheran Church or to Bethany Retirement Living in Fargo. Funeral Service: Sunday, November 20, 2011, at 1:00 PM, at Hope Lutheran Church ~ North Campus, Fargo. Visitation: One hour prior to the service at the church. Burial: