Stephen F. Ellsworth

Stephen F. Ellsworth, beloved husband and loving father and grandfather, died peacefully at home in Lawrence, KS, on July 9. He was 80. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Dee Ann DeRoin, his children and their families, Tyler and Susie (Robison) Ellsworth of Leawood, Kansas (George, 13, and Charlie, 9), Dr. Lia DeRoin and Andy Schrag of Oak Park, Illinois (Ezra, 10, and Susanna, 7), and his sister, Dr. Anne Wigglesworth of Oakland, California, as well as nieces and nephew.

Steve was born to Harold and Laura (Dombek) Ellsworth in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1946. The family moved to Palo Alto, California in 1957. He attended Philips Exeter Academy and went on to Stanford for college, graduating in 1968 with a degree in Art History. Shortly thereafter, he met Dee Ann through mutual friends in Sunnyvale, California and in her found a companion for exploring the beauty of the West Coast and for his beloved moviegoing. She was perhaps less enthusiastic about accompanying him on his motorcycle rides, but this did not prevent them from getting married in 1978.

Steve could fix anything - or at least, he was always willing to try. The Bay Area in the 1970s was the perfect time and place to apply those skills to the emerging field of personal computing, and Steve built a career as a technical support engineer at Hewlett Packard. He worked with HP in several states as Dee Ann’s medical career took them first from California to Seattle, where they welcomed son Tyler in 1981, and then to Lawrence, where they welcomed daughter Lia in 1985. Steve was steadfast in his support of Dee Ann’s professional and personal goals, and they both welcomed the opportunity to be closer to their families with the move to Kansas.

In the mid-1990s, Steve retired from HP to spend more time with family, including his parents, who had recently relocated to Lawrence themselves. Always generous with his time, he volunteered for several years in the computer lab at Cordley Elementary and also helped organize local political campaigns.

Lawrence was a great fit for Steve and Dee Ann, and when Lia and Tyler left for college, they fully embraced life in the community. They became regulars for dinner at 715 and Merchants downtown, enjoyed art exhibits, concerts, and movies, and were patrons of the Spencer Art Museum. Their passion for arts and the Lawrence community was undimmed by Steve’s Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2011, though it made participation increasingly challenging.

Steve will be remembered for his kindness, his generosity, his love of art, music, and movies, and his devilish and dry sense of humor.

A visitation will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, July 18, at Warren-McElwain Mortuary, 120 West 13th Street, Lawrence, Kansas, followed by a service at noon. Following the service, the family will host a luncheon from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm at the Union Pacific Depot, 402 North 2nd Street. All are welcome to attend.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Douglas County Community Foundation.