Just like most every public servant, a lot of their work and efforts go unnoticed.
Such is the case for one of Purcell’s diamonds in the rough.
The work that Joe Ellis does 365 days a year is something that not that many people know about.
Ellis, a retired railroad guy, still has the rails in his blood.
Every day at 8:30 a.m. Ellis makes the trek from his house on 6th Street to the train depot at the base of depot hill.
Ellis attends to the depot as the Heartland Flyer makes its way down from Norman to load up passengers on their way south.
The Flyer is scheduled to leave Purcell at 9:02 a.m. daily.
On the return trip back north, Ellis said it varies on when he has to be at the depot in the evenings.
“The conductors call me at the house and tell me if they are dropping people off or not,” Ellis told me earlier this week.
“If they call and say they are not dropping anyone off then I don’t have to go down to the depot at all,” he said with that wry grin of his.
But he is always on call.
Currently, Ellis has a bull pen pitcher when he and Marilyn are out of town.
It’s the ever-dependable Rodney Powers who pinch-hits for Ellis when he is not in town.
But who is going to be the every day player when Ellis hangs up his key?
That’s a question I posed to Joe this week and he didn’t have the answer.
It’s something city leaders need to be considering.
For Ellis it’s much like running a dairy.
Every day, twice a day.
He’s devoted and loves it. That’s what it’s going to take to replace him.
It’s going to take someone who is devoted and has a passion for the job.
It’s going to take a very special person to replace Joe when he retires.
Hopefully someone will step up to the plate.
The community needs it.
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