Ron Ellison, a Texas Baptist historian, died Feb. 9 in Vidor after a lengthy illness. He was 85. He was a member of Calder Baptist Church in Beaumont. Ellison was born Oct. 7, 1932, in Lakeland, Fla., but his family moved to Pickensville, Ala., when he was 6 months old. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1950 to 1953. He received his undergraduate degree from Samford University and a master’s degree from Lamar University in Beaumont. He completed additional study at the University of North Texas, Trinity University and Rice University. He was the author of Chronicle of the Christians of North End Baptist Church, Beaumont, Texas, 1932-1982, and Calvary Baptist Church, Beaumont, Texas: A Centennial History, 1904-2004, and multiple academic papers. He was co-author of Southern Baptists of Southeast Texas, A Centennial History, 1888-1988, which won the Texas Baptist Historical Society Book Award in 1989. Ellison served 15 years as secretary of Texas Baptists Committed and five years on the board of directors of the Baptist Standard. He was a past president of the Texas Baptist Historical Society and also served on the Baptist General Convention of Texas history committee. He is survived by a daughter, Rebekah Anne Cox, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., and two grandchildren.
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