-- A FUNERAL MASS WILL BE HELD TUESDAY --
Paul Dale Ellis, a Pearl Harbor survivor, died Thursday. He was 84.
A Rosary will be held at 6 p.m. Monday at Moore's Rosewood Funeral Home Chapel with a funeral Mass at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Church of the Madalene.
Ellis joined the Marines in Oklahoma City on Nov. 29, 1940. He was assigned in 1941 to the USS West Virginia, a battleship in the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
After completing training exercises Dec. 6 in Pearl Harbor, the West Virginia was returned to port and was anchored aft of the USS Oklahoma.
At 7:50 a.m. the following morning, Ellis heard loud explosions coming from the direction of the Naval Air Station on Ford Island, according to an account he gave for a biography of Tulsa-area Pearl Harbor veterans.
Soon afterward, Japanese warplanes descended on Pearl Harbor and began strafing ships and launching torpedos.
While attempting to join a ship gunnery station, Ellis was knocked to the floor from a torpedo blast on the ship's hull. A second torpedo blast followed and Ellis awoke to total darkness. He eventually managed to crawl toward the deck of the ship.
Covered in oil and saltwater, Ellis was evacuated to safety just before the second wave of attacks by Japanese warplanes.
After his recovery, Ellis was promoted to platoon sergeant and took part in a Guam military offensive. He was subsequently wounded and sent to a San Diego Naval hospital. While there, Ellis married his fiancee.
After his discharge, the couple moved to Oklahoma, where Ellis received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Oklahoma A&M.
He worked for National Tank Co., Nelson Electric, Douglas Aircarft and McDonnell Douglas, where he retired in 1985.
Ellis was a recipient of the Purple Heart medal; the American Defense Service medal; the Presidential Unit Citation ribbon; the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and the Marine Corps Sharpshooter Rifle Badge.
He was a member of the Veterans of Pearl Harbor Last Man's Club.
Ellis is survived by three daughters, Sharon Witt of Catoosa and Susan Parker and Chris Schonberner, both of Tulsa; two sons, Greg and Steve Ellis, both of Tulsa; eight grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
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