Lydia Gayle Willi-Ellis

Lydia Gayle Willi-Ellis, age 71, of Ausin, Texas, died Friday, October 25, 2024, at St. Davids Hospital in Austin, Texas. While her family mourns, we know she had a most colorful and active life which we have enjoyed hearing about throughout the years. Born August 5, 1953, in Houston, Texas, Gayle was the first child born to Herman Willi Jr. & Lydia Mae (Schneider) Willi. She later became big sister (and she never let us forget it) to three brothers and one sister. She became “Aunt Gayle” (a title she adored) to ten nephews and one niece. She was honored as godmother to nephew Michael Joseph Willi, and niece, Isabelle Marie Willi, both of Austin, Texas. Lydia Gayle Willi was baptized at Hope Lutheran Church in Houston, Texas. She was confirmed at Faith Lutheran Church in Bellaire, Texas. Gayle attended Bastion Elementary, Red Elementary School, Johnston Jr. High School, Westbury High School, and graduated from Madison High School in Houston, Texas in 1971. She started learning Spanish in elementary school and became quite proficient at reading and speaking. She loved sewing and art. She played the piano beautifully. She then attended Fine Arts classes at the University of Houston. She met and married Stanley Schreiber of Galveston, Texas. Together they lived in Galveston and ran the popular Uncle Sam’s Roller Rink where we gathered and learned to race and disco dance on roller skates. Gayle was a real dynamo on those roller skates, however, that business and marriage eventually dissolved. Later, Gayle met and married Arthur Clyde “A.C.” Ellis Jr. of Galveston, Texas in 1982. During their 38-year marriage, the couple traveled, lived, and made their fortunes together in exotic places including Guatemala, Manzanillo, Mexico, St. Maarten, and Anguilla, West Indies. She was a proficient executive assistant to her husband in his projects as a registered civil engineer. While assisting her husband, who had been appointed Honorary Consul of Belize, Lydia Gayle Willi Ellis became Honorary Vice Consul of Belize. They held this title for over 25 years and attended many honorary events. They settled in Dallas and Cleburne, Texas. Gayle worked a while for Belo Broadcasting and then became an Avon representative finally opening a beauty salon in Cleburne. She loved and sold pottery. She loved to buy plants and garden. She had a soft heart for stray animals and took in many stray cats and dogs over the years. Gayle is preceded in death by her husband of 38 years, Arthur Clyde Ellis Jr. (1922-2020), her mother, Lydia Mae (Schneider) Willi, her paternal grandparents, Herman Willi Sr. and Olive Rogers Willi, and her maternal grandparents, John Thomas & Lydia May Schneider. Gayle is survived by her father, Herman Willi Jr., of Austin, Texas, her brother, Paul Herman Willi of Plano, Texas, her sister, Kathleen Diane Willi, of Livingston, Texas, her brother, James Norman Willi, of Austin, Texas, and her brother, Thomas Frederick Willi, of Austin, Texas.

Lydia Gayle Willi-Ellis

August 5, 1953 - October 25, 2024