John Charles Ellsworth was a descendent of several early settlers in the Western Reserve. He lived in Lake County all his life, leaving the area only for education and military service.

Graduated from Willoughby Union High School and Mount Union College, he attended graduate school at Western Reserve University. Commissioned in the U.S. Navy, he served in USS Hornet and at Navy Supply Corps School, Athens, GA. While on active duty at Long Beach, CA, he met Catherine Ann Segar of Jeffersonville, NY, confidant and life companion, to whom he was married for almost 40 years.

Following military service, he joined Ellsworth Cabinet which he later owned. In 1986, he conceived the plan for and began a minority business incubator funded by the McDonald Fund and the Cleveland Foundation. After retirement from this activity, he served as a director of the McDonald Fund for many years.

In his early years, he was a Little League coach in Willoughby as well as a basketball coach at Immaculate Conception. He also was a founder of the Lake Geauga Bowling Hall of Fame and the Willoughby Union High School Sports Hall of Fame. Additionally, he was an incorporator and board member of Templum House, a shelter for battered women on Cleveland's west side.

An early member of COSE (Council of Smaller Enterprises), he held many offices including Chairman. He was also Vice Chairman of the Greater Cleveland Growth Association. During the Nixon, Carter, and Reagan Administrations, he served on the U.S. Small Business Administration Advisory Council. He was a founding member of the Small Business Institute of America.

Concluding many years as a Board Member, the West End YMCA named him an honorary lifetime Board Member.

As a Senior Member of the United States Power Squadron he attained a full certificate and designation SN (Senior Navigator). A wooden boat sailor, he had cruised the Great Lakes and Gulf of Maine.

Birding, walking, gardening, and traveling were favorite pastimes, joining a lifelong appreciation of classical music, theater, and engaging conversation. He had a special regard for animals, especially his cats Teddy and Sweetie Boy. He bowled in many scratch leagues in earlier times and state and national tournaments for many years. He also studied the games of bridge, cribbage and baseball.

He served as advisor to several small companies. Among them was the Prentke Romich Company of Wooster, Ohio which he served for over 25 years.

He was preceded in death by parents Ralph H. and Edythe Lucretia (Noon) Ellsworth. Memorials may be made to any charity which the donor will not find offensive if it continues to solicit them for more money throughout their lifetime.

030709