Michigan – Anthony Lester Ellis, 46, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, formerly of Northborough, died Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014 following a two-year struggle with leukemia.? Dr. Ellis was a professor of Renaissance literature at Western Michigan University.
He leaves his parents, Robert and Christine (Quaglia) Ellis, a brother, Matthew Ellis, all of Northborough, a sister, Dr. Kathryn Ellis, and a sister-in-law, Dr. Morana Lasic, nieces Phoebe and Mia, and nephew Ian, of Dover, an uncle, John Ellis of Delhi, New York, and many devoted friends. He also leaves and will be missed by loving cousins in Roccadaspide, Italy, with whom he enjoyed regular happy visits.
Dr. Ellis held degrees from Stonehill College and the University of Richmond. He received his doctorate from Loyola University, Chicago. He taught courses in Shakespeare and the history of drama. He was the author of Old Age, Masculinity, and Early Modern Drama. His articles on Renaissance drama have appeared in Forum Italicum, Studi veneziani, the Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, and the Ben Jonson Journal.
He received a Western Michigan University grant for research in early Venetian drama and a Folger Shakespeare Library Fellowship. Until shortly before his death, he served as an associate editor of the journal Comparative Drama. He lectured in Asia and in Europe.
Burial will be private. A celebration of his life will be held at a later date.
Donations in his memory can be made to the Anthony Ellis Memorial Fund at Stonehill College, attn: Office of Development, 320 Washington St., Easton, MA 02357.
To share a memory or leave a condolence, please visit www.haysfuneralhome.com.
