Linda Sanders Ellis passed away on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. She was born in Lebanon, Indiana, in the early hours of April 15, 1952. She was an only child. Her mother, Thelma Jean Foutch Sanders, was from the Sheridan, Indiana, area and was the daughter of Mabel and Willie Foutch. Mabel was a homemaker and the mother of six children, and Willie was a farmer and carpenter who constructed the family home which still stands today. Linda’s father, Allen J. (Tubby) Sanders, was from the Indianapolis area and was one of the nine children of Irene Joyce Parker Sanders. His father, Leslie Sanders, was a scoundrel who spent much of his life going from town to town doing religious shows and extorting money from unsuspecting believers. Leslie died in Leavenworth Prison, Kansas. “Tubby” (a childhood nickname which stuck for his lifetime) and Jeannie operated Tubby’s Cleaners for many years in Zionsville and Victory Cleaners on the eastside of Indianapolis.
Linda lived with her parents in Zionsville until the family purchased a home in 1958 on the far north side of Indianapolis on West 71st Street. Linda attended Pike Township Schools and graduated from Pike High School in 1970. As a child, her paternal grandmother, Irene, lived with the family periodically and had a pronounced effect on Linda. She often read stories, played games, and travelled on vacation with the family. It is surely from her beloved grandmother that Linda got her love of reading and writing.
Linda attended Ball State University in the fall of 1970, but when her father passed away unexpectedly in 1972 due to polycystic kidney disease, she returned home and helped Jeannie run the family’s drycleaning business for several months. She returned to Ball State and finished her degrees in English and journalism on schedule in 1974. Linda married soon after graduation, but the marriage lasted only five years.
Few positions were available in the teaching field in the 1970’s, so in 1976 Linda began employment and her career with the State of Indiana. She worked for several agencies and ended her career as a consultant with the Indiana Child Support Bureau in 2017 after 41 years of state employment.
While working for the State, Linda met married Stephen W. Ellis, an acquaintance from Ball State, in 1980. Besides being her husband, Steve was her best friend and confidant. They had one child, Christopher Michael Ellis, on 8-1-85. Chris was their pride and joy and excelled personally, academically, and athletically. Chris played soccer from age five through high school, and Steve and Linda supported his efforts. Many friends were made through Chris’ involvement with youth and varsity soccer.
Linda was an animal lover. While she was working, you could often find her eating lunch outside on the retaining wall around the State Capitol. The squirrels would join her and eat right out of her hand, and her friends were sure she’d be bitten! Dogs, however, were her true passion, and after a toy poodle, then Chris’s Dalmatian, came a series of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, the breed that would capture her heart forever. Linda became involved with a national group, The Cavalier Brigade, that focused on facilitating rescue of Cavaliers. She did home visits for rescue placements and networked with other rescue groups. After her first Cavalier, Beau, came Tessa, Pippa, Abby Rose, and Rory James and Allie Liegh. It is Linda’s wish that her dogs that have gone before her be buried with her ashes.
Linda found joy in arranging flowers for Random Acts of Flowers, a group that repurposes flowers for distribution to hospitals and patients in healthcare facilities. Working with the flowers and dedicated volunteers brought her peace and happiness much as the beautiful arrangements brought joy to the recipients.
Although in her later years, Linda struggled with numerous serious health problems, she always tried to maintain a positive attitude and outlook. By many, she was called brave and tough, but she didn’t see it that way.
She is survived by her beloved husband of 45 years, Steve, of Fishers, and her son, Chris (Rebecca) of Lebanon.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 5, 2025, at Myers Mortuary, 1502 N. Lebanon Street in Lebanon, Indiana. Visitation from 10:00 a.m. until the time of service.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in her name may be made to the American Kidney Foundation, or to Cavalier Brigade through Nonni’s fund by PayPal at [email protected].
Online condolences: www.MyersMortuary.com