James Reed "Jim" Ellis (August 5, 1921 – October 25, 2019) was a municipal bond lawyer[1] and civic activist based in King County, Washington.
They had a rough summer, but by the end of it they had bonded closely, and had a livable cabin that they improved over the next several years, and that Ellis continued to use into the 2000s.
When the U.S. entered World War II, Ellis enlisted into the Air Force; his brother Robert joined the Army.
[1] Ellis was reportedly "devastated"[3] when his brother Robert was killed in action near Trier, Germany in February 1945,[1] and strongly considered volunteering for a combat role, but his wife convinced him to focus instead on what he could do to contribute to his community.
That led to the creation of the regional, intergovernmental Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle, ancestor of today's King County Metro[3] established by a referendum September 9, 1958.
[3] Ellis founded the committee behind the Forward Thrust initiatives in 1968 and 1970,[5] which netted some highway improvements but failed to get the required support for a regional rail-based transit system.
[3] In 1991 he founded the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust which, since that time, has put together a set of linked trails across the county.