Elsie Jean Perry Ellington

Garden City — Funeral services for Elsie Jean Perry Ellington, 89, Garden City, will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the First United Methodist Church in Garden City. Burial will follow at Valley View Cemetery in Garden City.Mrs. Ellington died Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009, at St. Catherine Hospital in Garden City.She was born Feb. 3, 1919, in Dorchester, Neb., the daughter of Horace and Jessie Grothe Perry.She graduated from Beatrice High School in 1935. She then attended Peru State Teachers College in Peru, Neb., majoring in business and music. She worked as a secretary for Store Kraft Manufacturing Co. in Beatrice for several years, then as a secretary in the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C. She returned to Beatrice, then moved to Garden City in 1942.Mrs. Ellington was a piano teacher for 60 years. She was the first president of the Garden City Piano Teachers League, and participated in the National Piano Teachers Guild Auditions since their origin in Garden City. She was a member of the American College of Musicians and was in its Hall of Fame. She was a board member of the Community Concert Association for 25 years. She was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Garden City and the Builders Sunday school class.She married Duke Ellington on Sept. 1, 1940, in Crete, Neb. He survives, of the home.Other survivors include two sons, Larry Ellington, Wirtz, Va., and David Ellington, Florissant, Colo.; a daughter, Linda Neigert, Lawrence; a sister, Phyllis Sober, Kenesaw, Neb.; six grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.Friends may call from noon to 8 p.m. today at Garnand Funeral Home in Garden City.The family suggests memorials to the American Cancer Society, sent in care of the funeral home, 412 N. Seventh St., Garden City, KS 67846.Online condolences may be sent at garnandfh@sbcglobal.net.