J. Ellis Jackson, was born May 20, 1910 in Ottawa, KS. He died November 26, 2005 in Manhattan, KS. He married Freda Heath, June 9, 1935, at her farm home near Liberal. She died Aug. 21, 2002. He attended grade school and high school, then Ottawa University where he graduated in 1933 with a bachelors degree. He attended Northwestern University in Chicago and later the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO, where he received his Master of Music Education degree in 1954. He was a music teacher for public schools for 34 years. He taught in Deer creek, OK, Kismet, Jetmore, Meade, and Assaria. The last 25 years of his career were with Wichita East and West High Schools. He retired from West High School in 1968 as head of the music department.