Catharine Hastings Ellis, a longtime resident of Rancho Santa Fe, CA, died on Aug. 29, 2000. She was born on May 6, 1904 in New York to Herbert R. Hastings and Mary Grose Hastings. She was a member of the Delta Gamma Sorority, Wisconsin, Class of 1926. Mrs. Ellis attended the Chicago Academy of Design and became a dress designer for Marshall Field and Co. and other national companies. Later, she ran her own interior design business. Prior to coming to Rancho Santa Fe in 1979, Mrs. Ellis and her late husband, R. Winfield Ellis, an international investment banker, lived in Chicago. Mrs. Ellis was active with a number of charitable organizations in the Chicago area, including the Junior League of Evanston from 1926 to 1936 and the Chicago Junior League from 1936 to 1946. While residing in Chicago, she helped raise funds for the Boy Scouts of America, the Crusade of Mercy, Seeing Eye, American Red Cross and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She also volunteered at Recording for the Blind and was on the Board of Directors of Passavant Memorial Hospital from 1942 to 1952. She was a member of the Planned Parenthood Association from 1952 to 1963 and served on the Advisory Board of the Planned Parenthood Association in 1978. She was active with the United Republican Fund from 1959 to 1961 and served on the Women’s Board of the Field Museum of Natural History in 1965 and was the moving force behind the first ball ever given in Stanley Field Hall of the Field Museum in Chicago. She also served on the Women’s Board of the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association in 1950 and was a member of the Guild of the Chicago Historical Society in 1969. She was a member of the Antiquarian Society of the Art Institute in 1972 and also served as a member of the Governing Board of the Orchestral Association from 1973 to 1978. After moving to Rancho Santa Fe in 1979, she became a member of the Founder’s Circle of the Zoological Society of San Diego and became a member of the Rancho Santa Fe Auxiliary for the American Red Cross. She was a sponsor of The Country Friends Fashion Show and a Charter Member of the Heritage Circle of Scripps Foundation for Medicine and Science. Her primary volunteer interest was with the Rancho Santa Fe Library Guild where she volunteered for many years in its Book Cellar. She traveled extensively to Europe with her husband and enjoyed a wide circle of friends. She is survived by her daughter, Gwen Ellis Melvin; her son-in-law, Ronald Melvin; two granddaughters, Mary Melvin Fleming and Catharine Melvin Carley; as well as three great-grandchildren. At Mrs. Ellis’ request, no services were held.
