Eleanor Mamie Dennis

Eleanor Mamie Dennis was born in Santa Ana, California on March 18, 1924, to her parents John Henry Case and Mamie Rachel Weber Case. Ellie, as she was affectionately know, went to be with the Lord on February 24, 2021.

Ellie graduated from Tustin Elementary School in 1938, and in 1942 she graduated from Tustin Union High School. In 1945 Ellie married Eugen Fuller in Santa Ana’s Episcopal Church of the Messiah. On March 11, 1948, their son Steven Eugene Fuller was born. In 1955, the family moved to Lemon Cove, California, where Ellie attended night classes at College of the Sequoias. She was working as a teacher’s aid at Sequioa Union School where she initiated the swimming program for the school in the yard of her home for three years.

Ellie was active in the Episcopal Mission that originated in Lemon Cove before being established permanently in Woodlake. It is now known as St. Clements Episcopal Church. Ellie was a church schoolteacher and active in the Episcopal Church Women as well as the Altar Guild at St. Clement’s.

In 1972, she moved to Visalia, where she was employed for six years for the County of Tulare in the Departments of Personnel and the District Attorney’s Family Division. She was also employed at Gifford & Hill Inc. in Visalia.

On February 7, 1979, she married Bert Helmer Dennis in Visalia at St. Paul’s Church by the Rev. Donald Cole. Her son, Steve, and Shirly Cole were their witnesses. Ellie was very active at St. Paul’s Church, where she continued to be active on the Altar Guild and the board of the ECW. She was also active in working to enhance donations to the Memorial Fund so as to provide needed items for the worship life of the parish.

When St. Paul’s Church moved to a new location away from the historic buildings on Hall Street, Ellie continued to be active in all aspects of the church’s life, including her beloved Altar Guild. She loved flowers because of their natural God-given beauty, and she was always eager to see that Sunday’s Altar was beautifully decorated with flowers as a way of honoring God. Then, after services, she would help get the flowers delivered to those in the parish who were in the hospital or nursing homes, or were otherwise unable to attend worship services.

Eleanor is dearly missed by the whole community, and especially by her family and friends at St. Paul’s Anglican Church. Donations in her honor are invited to the Memorial Fund at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, 2918 W. Main Street, Visalia, California 93291.