Obituary

John David Ellis, obituary

Tue, 06/23/2015 - 3:00pm

ROCKLAND — John David Ellis, 85, of Rockland, sailed peacefully and naturally from life on the night of May 15, 2015. He was surrounded by the love of close friends in the home he had built with his beloved wife, Joan Beauregard (predeceased), with whom he had shared art, music, literature, conversation, conviviality and the bonds of great friendship for many years. His passage was marked with ritual, ceremony, prayer and poetry.

David was born on June 8, 1929, in Cincinnati, Ohio, the only child of Catherine Steifel Ellis, who died during his youth. His father, John DeMoss Ellis, the city solicitor of Cincinnati, died when David was 18. David entered Williams College in 1947, and graduated with a degree in political science in 1951. He then enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, which he proudly served on active duty from 1951-1953, and then as a reserve member until his honorable discharge in 1959. He enrolled in Harvard Law School in 1954 from which he graduated in 1957. David was admitted to the bars of the states of New York and Washington, D.C., but practiced only briefly.

Though David would often draw on his legal training, which served him well throughout the remainder of his life, he was inspired by the work of Russian abstract artist, Wassily Kandinsky, and elected to pursue the life of a painter. He enrolled in the Art Student's League in New York City for formal training. It was there that he met the great love of his life, artist Joan Beauregard, whom he later married.

David was an accomplished sailor, who completed numerous long-distance cruises in the western Atlantic and Caribbean. Together with Joan, David spent many years cruising coastal Maine in their Blue Rider II. In 1969, he and Joan purchased a home in Round Pond that would become their summer art studio and boatyard. They eventually left Brooklyn, N.Y., to live year-round in Round Pond. Along with Joan's son, Joe Steinberger, they became involved in a wide range of social and cultural programs that helped enrich the Midcoast region. They were among the founding supporters of the Penobscot School for languages in Rockland, and early and enthusiastic supporters of the DaPonte String Quartet.

David and Joan later moved to Rockland, where they established the Anonimo Foundation to support a variety of visual and performance arts programs throughout Midcoast Maine, and especially in Rockland's public schools. Through their largely anonymous and generous support, thousands of Kindergarten through 12th-grade students in Midcoast Maine have experienced drawing, painting, cartooning, drumming, music and theater programs that would not have been possible otherwise.

David was a keen student of language and spent considerable time in Europe, beginning with a first visit to Denmark in 1949. He and Joan traveled extensively through France, Italy and Germany, and shared a residence with their friends Mo and Kate Egetmeyer in Buchenbach, Germany. David and Joan also worked with Mo to create the ECCO and Beauregard association card decks, which have found a wide range of applications. In his final years, David began a restoration project in Valparaiso, Chile, which continues.

David was an acute observer of life, whose wit, wisdom, generous spirit and valued counsel will be missed greatly by his friends and associates across Maine, the U.S., Germany and Chile. He leaves his stepsons, Joe and Ned Steinberger, and their wives, Keiko Suzuki Steinberger and Denise Soucy Steinberger, and their children.

A private memorial service was held at the Ellis residence, and a public memorial concert will be announced at a later date.

Burpee, Carpenter, and Hutchins Funeral Home handled arrangements for cremation, with interment planned in Cincinnati.