Ellis Family Collection

Hans Leo Elias was born on November 12, 1912 in Dortmund, the son of businessman Heinrich Elias and his wife Bianka (née Fein). Hans had an older sister, Charlotte (called Lotte). In 1916 the family moved to Düsseldorf, and two years later to the Grünewald district of Berlin; in Berlin Heinrich Elias established a business involved in the trade of machinery and iron products used in the locomotive and construction industries. After graduating from the Grünewald Gymnasium, Hans Elias first studied industrial engineering at the Technical University of Berlin, but after Hitler came to power in 1933 he left Berlin to study in Brussels, where in 1936 he earned a master's degree from the Free University of Brussels (Université Libre de Bruxelles). In Brussels he met Eva Steinitz.

Eva Fränze Steinitz was born June 24, 1914 in Janowitz, Posen, the daughter of Moritz Steinitz and his wife Toni (née Wreszynski), and had two brothers, Wolff and Friedel. Moritz had headed the family grain business along with his brother, and had moved it to Berlin following World War I, but the business ran into difficulties in the late 1920s. After moving to Berlin the family changed their surname from Schmul to Steinitz. Eva Steinitz matriculated from the Hohenzollern-Lyzeum in Berlin in 1933, then attended the Free University of Brussels, where she studied education. In 1936 she received the "Licence en Sciences Pédagogiques" and later passed her oral examinations for a doctorate in education.

After completing his studies in Brussels, Hans Elias left for the United States in 1936. His first job was at a pencil factory in Hoboken, New Jersey. Eva came to New York in 1937, where she joined her family. They had arrived in New York earlier with the assistance of Eva's uncle Benno Samuel, who had already been living in the United States. In January 1939 Heinrich Elias took his own life in Berlin, but Bianka Elias was able to join her son in New York. Charlotte Elias Fabian and her husband Kurt Fabian emigrated to Bolivia, but would later join the rest of the family in New York.

Hans Elias and Eva Steinitz were married on March 31, 1938 by Rabbi Joachim Prinz. They went on to have two children: Raymond, born in 1942, and Myriam, born in 1946. In 1943 and 1944, respectively, Hans and Eva became naturalized American citizens; they then Americanized their names to John and Eva Ellis.

Shortly after his marriage, John Ellis began working in the area of bakery machinery, designing and developing a doughnut-baking machine for use in large bakeries. After World War II broke out he worked at Loewy-Hydropress on building large machines and presses for the production of metal and steel. He also began work in the field of powder metallurgy. In 1947 John founded together with Erwin Loewy and Claus Goetzel a powder metallurgy study and development society under the name Sintercast. They succeeded in developing wear-resistant alloys for the tool industry and control alloys for nuclear power plants. In 1959 the firm was sold to Chromalloy, of which Sintercast became a subsidiary headed by John Ellis for the next twenty years, with frequent trips to Germany and Japan due to licensing agreements. He was later named International Vice President, with his primary role the development of the application, production, and distribution of Sintercast products. He helped establish a subsidiary of Sintercast near Thionville, France for tool production for the European market.

Meanwhile, Eva Ellis continued teaching at Columbia Grammar and the Leonard School while also raising the children. In 1951 she received a Master of Arts from New York University. From 1952-1960 she taught French at Ardsley High School in Ardsley, New York. Beginning in 1963 she taught French and German language and literature courses at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, New York. She also continued the degree she had begun at the University of Brussels, receiving her doctorate in 1970, becoming a full professor at Mercy College. She also worked as a graduate councilor and later became chair of the Education Department. In November 1986 the College's Honors Student Center was dedicated to her and John in honor of their long connection with Mercy College. A scholarship was named for her, the Eva Ellis Travel Scholarship Fund, to assist honors students in studying abroad. Eva Ellis retired from Mercy College in 1986.

Following his retirement from Sintercast in 1982, John Ellis began studying at Mercy College, to broaden his knowledge in the humanities, especially the areas of history, art history, literature, Italian, and biology. He and Eva traveled to India in 1986.

Eva Ellis died in August 2004 in Florida, John Ellis in New York in October 2009. They had four grandchildren.