Laurence Naaman Ellison

 Laurence Naaman Ellison, 84, of Dolgue, France passed away Aug. 4, 2023 in Montpellier, France. 

 He was born in Indian Valley, Idaho on July 15, 1939 to Roy and Evelyn Ellison.

 Laurence grew up in Weiser. As a youngster he delivered newspapers for the Signal American and as a teenager he hoed beets and changed sprinklers for farmers.

 He graduated from Weiser High School in 1957. From there he attended the University of Idaho graduating with a degree in Wildlife Management in 1961. From the U. of I. he enrolled at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst on a Fellowship. He graduated with a Masters in Zoology.  Then he accepted a job on

the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, where for five years he did Spruce Grouse and Ptarmigan research.

 While there a longtime friend, Warren Shepard, sent him a hunting dog, Rex, who was a big help in his research. 

 Laurence and another fellow built a log cabin. At one point there was a forest fire. Needed to help fight the fire, he cleared the land around his cabin and put all his essentials into a rowboat and cast it out into the lake. When he returned

thankfully his cabin was still standing.

 After five years on the Peninsula he enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley on a scholarship. While there he met his wife Anne Preller, who was a visiting exchange math professor from Marseille, France. They married April 30, 1970 in Furth, Germany.

 Later he moved to France so she wouldn’t need to keep taking leaves of absences from her job.  There he worked with the French Wildlife Department researching their grouse and ptarmigan in the Alps. He retired in 2004.

 Laurence is survived by his wife, Anne, of 53 years, two sons, Alexandre (Karin) and Nicolas (Ursula) and four grandchildren, Oscar, Emma, Sebastian, and Iain and a sister Lane Marie (Claude) Long.

 Celebration of Life services were held in Claret, France where he was laid to rest.