Funeral service for Mary Belle Ellis, 95, Lawton, will be 2:00 p.m. Saturday in the Centenary United Methodist Church with Dr. Norma Quinn, Senior Pastor, officiating. Mrs. Ellis died Saturday at a local hospital. Burial will be at Sunset Memorial Gardens under the direction of the Becker Funeral Home & Cremation Service. She was born April 5, 1915 in Hominy, Oklahoma to John Calvin and Cora Anna (Blackwell) Franks. She spent her early childhood on two cattle ranches which her father owned. While she was a young girl, her father was thrown from a horse and died of a head injury two days later. She and her sisters were adopted by their uncle Charley Franks, a family of nine girls and one bathroom. Mary Belle went through school at Hominy and graduated in 1932. She attended Central State Teachers College in Edmond where she was a member of the League of Young Democrats, Tau Theta Kappa Club, yearbook representative, sophomore class president and YWCA cabinet member. She graduated with honors with her degree in education in 1936. Later, she earned a Masters Degree from the University of Texas, Austin. After her graduation she taught at Garber, Oklahoma for a short time. Moving to Lawton, she was employed in the Finance Department in the Commanding General's office at Fort Sill. She met 1LT L.A. Ellis and they were married on October 19, 1941 in the Old Post Chapel, and thus started a lifetime commitment to one another. They were transferred many times during World War II. Their first son, Claiborn W. was born on July 9, 1946 in Colorado Springs. Their second son Robert L. was born on June 26, 1949 in Germany, and their third son, Nathan A. was born on January 1, 1953 at Fort Sill. After the Army, both L.A. and Mary Belle taught school in Lawton. He died July 18, 1992. She taught at B.C. Swinney from 1950 -1977. She was a member of AAUW, OEA, the Retired Teachers Association and the Pioneer Club of Lawton. Mary Belle had been a member of Centenary United Methodist Church since 1949. She was a lifelong believer in our Lord Jesus Christ. She and her husband taught Sunday school for thirteen years. She was a member of the reading cast and the acting cast at the Easter Sunrise Service at the Holy City of the Wichitas. She started as a reader in 1949 and became the leader of the children's group in 1950. She played the part of Mary the mother of Jesus from 1950 -2001. Survivors include three sons and a daughter in law, Claiborn W. and Gloria Ellis of Chino, California, Robert L. Ellis of Houston, Texas and Nathan A. Ellis of Lawton; three grandchildren, Erin and her husband Steven Mattews, Jonathan Ellis and Mark Ellis all of California; two great grandchildren, Stevie Mattews and Faith Ellis; and a nephew, Lee Jones of Duncan, Oklahoma. She was preceded in death by all of her sisters.