Ted L. Ellis

Ted Ellis died on the morning of Sunday 1 November 2026 at Christian Care Retirement Community in Bluffton, aged 79. His death was announced in an obituary from Thoma/Rich, Lemler Funeral Home and by Bluffton Mayor Scott Mentzer on Facebook. No cause of death was made public.

Mentzer recalled the time Ellis had spent advising him when he considered completing Mayor Whicker's term, noting that "though we belonged to different political parties, he generously offered his time, perspective, and advice."

Visitation was set for 5 November 2026 at Thoma/Rich, Lemler Funeral Home, with the funeral at First Baptist Church in Bluffton on 6 November and burial at Fairview Cemetery. The family asked for memorials to the Rock Steady Boxing Program through the Bluffton Parks Department or to Stillwater Hospice Respite Care.

Ted L. Ellis was born in Bluffton, Indiana, on 4 July 1947, the son of Curtis "Pete" Ellis and Mary (Pinney) Ellis. He grew up in a family closely tied to local government: his father served as Wells County auditor and his grandfather was a member of the Wells County Council.

Ellis graduated from Lancaster High School in 1965 and went on to Indiana University, where he earned a degree in economics in 1969.

Ellis began his public career in Wells County government, serving three years as county auditor and nine years on the Wells County Council.

In 1995 he ran for mayor of Bluffton as a Democrat and defeated Republican Ralph Garcia. He was re-elected five times, according to the Associated Press running unopposed in each of those races, and served six four-year terms. Aim, the Indiana trade group for cities and towns, recognised him as the state's second longest tenured mayor.

Ellis became a leading figure in municipal government beyond Indiana. He served as president of the National League of Cities and as treasurer of United Cities and Local Governments, the international association representing local and regional governments. He was also a past president of the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns and received a John J. McCloy fellowship in urban affairs to study city issues in Germany.

In August 2018, aged 71, he announced that he would not seek a seventh term, citing his age and a Parkinson's disease diagnosis six years earlier. He left office on 31 December 2019. Republican John Whicker, with whom he had worked for years on city business, succeeded him, the first Republican mayor of Bluffton since 1967.

Ellis married Margaret "Marge" Tellman, a native of Holland, Michigan, in Bluffton on 2 January 1999. His survivors included his wife, his children Andy Ellis, Becky Ellis, Melissa Reiff and Scott Saucedo, ten grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and his sister Jill Baughan. His son Andy retired as deputy chief of the Bluffton Police Department.

He was moderator of the First Baptist Church in Bluffton for more than four decades and served many years as an interim pastor. He sat on the boards of the American Baptist Churches of Indiana, Bluffton Regional Medical Center and the Wells County Foundation, served on the Bluffton Street Fair Board for nearly half a century, and was a life member of American Mensa.

He spoke openly about living with Parkinson's disease. "I have Parkinson's disease," he told WANE 15 as he retired. "It slows me down a little bit, but it doesn't stop me."

Ellis led Bluffton for nearly a quarter of a century, one of the longest mayoral tenures in Indiana history. His honours included the Sagamore of the Wabash, the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns' Russell Lloyd Award for outstanding contributions to local government, the Indiana Parks and Recreation Association's Outstanding Service Award, the Hoosier State Press Association's Sunshine Award for transparency, and Wells County Citizen of the Year from the Wells County Chamber of Commerce. His leadership of the National League of Cities carried the concerns of a small Indiana city to the national and international stage.