Y. Ellis Spake

Y. Ellis Spake, 71, of Riverside Drive, Morganton, NC died Friday, June 4, 2010 at the Burke Palliative Care Center following an extended illness. Born in Guilford County, NC on April 24, 1939, he was the son of the late Yates Ellis Spake, Sr. and Alberta Butler Spake. Ellis was a member of First Baptist Church. He graduated from Mars Hill College and N.C. State University. He was a civil engineer/consultant relating to waste water design. Ellis had also worked for the N.C. Dept. of Transportation and Moore Gardner Associates, which later became Black and Veatch. Ellis had many projects he was proud of, but he was proudest of the desalinization plant in Dare County which he helped design. He later retired from Municipal Engineering Service in Boone.Ellis is survived by his wife, Joyce Houston Spake of the home; a son, Carl Yates Spake and wife, Mary, of Lexington, NC; daughters, Susan Spake Alsup and husband, Rick, of Kernersville, NC, Laura Spake and special friend, Bobby, of Gibsonville, NC, and Heather Glazebrooks of Morganton; grandchildren, Dylan Spake, Gavin Spake, Job Spake, Garrett Spake, Melissa Alsup, Houston Spake, JoAnna Montgomery, Zachary Montgomery, and James Melton.A celebration of Ellis’ life will be held at 5:00 p.m., Sunday, June 6, 2010 in the chapel of First Baptist Church with Dr. Thomas A. Bland, Jr. officiating. The family will receive friends in the church parlor from 4:00 until 5:00 p.m. prior to the service. Interment of the ashes will follow in Forest Hill Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Burke Hospice and Palliative Care, Inc., 1721 Enon Road, Valdese, NC 28690 or to the American Diabetes Association, Always and Forever Memorial Program, P.O. Box 13067, Alexandria, VA 22312. Sossoman Funeral Home is assisting the family with the arrangements.