Dena Ellzey

Tupelo - Dena Ellzey, 83, died Sunday, May 18, 2008, at The Sanctuary Hospice House after a lengthy illness. She was born May 14, 1925, in San Luis Portosi, Mexico to Tolstoy and Margarita Castellanos Binswanger. After growing up in Mexico, she moved to Carlsbad, New Mexico at the age of 16 where she graduated from high school. She lived in Booneville for 41 years and spent the past fourteen years in Tupelo. She was first and foremost dedicated to her husband of 63 years, her children, grandchildren and her great-grandson. She was actively involved in her church, the school system as a substitute Spanish teacher, and various school activities involving her children. She hosted and mentored foreign exchange students from France, Mexico, South America, and Portugal, maintaining a close relationship with them and their families. She was also active in girl scouts and volunteered at the hospital in Boonville. She was a member of First United Methodist Church in Tupelo.

Memorial Services will be 1 p.m. Wednesday at The Jefferson Street Chapel of W. E. Pegues with Chaplin Jerry Grammer officiating.

Survivors include her husband of 63 years, Dr. Paul C. Ellzey of Tupelo; three daughters, Paula Peterson of Olive Branch, Elta Brunet and husband, Darwin, of Tupelo, Marla McCarthy and husband, Eddie, of Tupelo; two sons, Michael Ellzey of Olive Branch and Rex Ellzey and wife, Stephanie, of Edmond, Okla; eight grandchildren, Heather White, Natalie Brunet, Deanna and Joel Peterson, Kayla and Mary Margaret Turner, Robert and Zachary Ellzey; one great-grandchild, Gabriel Paul Dean; her sister, Olga Roush of Christopher, Il. and her brother, Lewis Binswanger of El Paso, Tex.

Visitation will be noon until service time Wednesday at the funeral home.

Memorials may be made to The Sanctuary Hospice House, PO Box 2177, Tupelo, MS 38803.