Beloved west Louisville pastor, activist leaves behind legacy of service

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Longtime Louisville pastor, activist and community leader Rev. Geoffrey Ellis died over the weekend at the age of 84 after a battle with cancer.

Ellis, a lover of west Louisville for all his life, was born in the Russell neighborhood and raised in the Sheppard Square Housing Projects in Smoketown.

"We shared our father with the community," Ellis' daughter, Kishya Ellis, said Monday. "We shared our father with the church as a pastor."

A graduate of Central High School, Ellis went on to attended Jefferson Community & Technical College, the University of Louisville and Simmons College of Kentucky.

"Geoff Ellis is a dear friend since childhood, and I've always loved and respected him for his love and leadership," Kevin Fields, president and CEO of the Louisville Central Community Center, said Monday. "This is a tremendous loss to the community. Ellis is a former board chair at Louisville Central Community Center and LCCC will host the repass for the family."

After serving in the United States Navy, Ellis was the pastor of Asbury Chapel AME Church at 18th and Chestnut streets for 25 years. Former Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson called Ellis "one of the most caring and engaging public officials" he ever worked with.

Ellis also served as special assistant to two county judges, was the president of the Louisville branch of the NAACP and worked closely with the Louisville Metro Police Department and the city to help curb gang violence.

Ellis' daughter recalls marching alongside him following the death of Trayvon Martin.

"He walked with me the whole time," Kishya Ellis said Monday. "As an elderly man, just to be in support ... activism was his heart."

And as an activist, west Louisville became his congregation. Minister Frank Porter shared a story of Ellis running to help a woman hit by a car while crossing the street.

"He had the presence of mind to immediately lay hands on her and to pray," Porter said. "Once he done that, immediately, the young lady regained consciousness."

Bettye Baye, a former reporter and columnist with the Courier Journal, said Ellis was one of top her sources who kept her on the pulse of what was going on in the city.

"When I think of Louisville today and then I think 'Oh my God, in 40 years, we've come a long way,'" Baye said. "We still have issues. but for all the good that we have now. its because of soldiers like Geoff."

Kishya Ellis said her last words to her father we "well done."

Later in life, Ellis was part of the Interdenominational Ministerial Coalition and served as vice chair of the board of commissioners of the Louisville Metro Housing Authority.

"To us, he was father," she said. "To us, he was a granddad. To us, he was a husband."

A celebration of life will be held from 4-8 p.m. Friday, July 12, at Quinn Chapel AME Church at 19th Street and West Muhammad Ali Boulevard. The funeral services will then be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 13, at Quinn Chapel AME. In lieu of flowers, Ellis' family asked for donations to be made in his honor to the Asbury Chapel AME Church Building Fund, Louisville Central Community Center or West Louisville Community Ministries.