Donor Profile: John Ellis ’32

Photo above (L to R) HEADMASTER CHRISTOPHER SHANNON (PRE-U ’76), JOHN ELLIS ’32 AND FORMER HEAD OF HOCKEY & ALUMNI AMBASSADOR KIRK LLANO

Giving Back to the School He Loved

John Ellis ’32 was a fine example of Non Nobis Solum and a champion of Lower Canada College for many decades. Now, with the creation of the John Ellis ’32 Bursary, generations of students will have the opportunity to benefit from everything LCC has to offer.

John had a most distinguished career, both on the business and philanthropic fronts. He was a member of The Fosbery Society and governor on LCC’s Board in the 1960s. He was vice-chairman and director at the Bank of Montreal. John was a member of the first university senate upon the founding of Simon Fraser University in 1965 where he created a bursary. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1983. In 1989, John received Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun in recognition of his commitment to the development of Canadian and Japanese relations. In 2012, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

John died in January 2020 in British Columbia at the age of 104.

My dad loved LCC and considered his education at and connection with Lower Canada College to be transformative in his life,” says his son Robert Ellis ’67.