Remembering Stephen "Steve" Ellis

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Stephen A. Ellis, who translated a youth spent on a southwest Missouri dairy

farm to deep connections and influence in the Midwest livestock industry and the Alpha

Gamma Rho agriculture fraternity, in which he was part of initiating more than 400 young men

into its brotherhood, died March 15 in Jefferson City. He was 73.

Born in Buffalo, New York, to Mary Edmondson and William Ellis, Stephen moved by train to

Springfield, Mo., at age 11 in 1963. Three years later, in 1966, his mother married Dale Freeman

Edmondson, a 1948 Alpha Gamma Rho initiate. The family dairy farm provided lessons in work

ethic that would later help define his life.

But another agriculture experience, the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity's Theta Chapter at the

University of Missouri, left an even deeper mark.

In 1970, Ellis enrolled at the University of Missouri, where he studied animal science and dairy

husbandry. He graduated in 1974 with a B.S. in Agriculture.

In 1971, he was initiated into AGR’s Theta Chapter. While he valued the organization’s traditions,

he always emphasized that “college gave me the letters; the real legacy was the brotherhood

that stretched far beyond the campus.” He treated every AGR member—from wide-eyed

freshmen to graying alumni—as a brother, a principle that guided both his personal loyalties

and his professional conduct.

After graduation, Ellis entered agribusiness, first with MFA Incorporated and later with

IMC/Pitman-Moore, where he sold animal-health products across the Midwest. Colleagues

remembered him as a straight-talking, tireless salesman who preferred meeting producers on

the farm over polished office presentations. In the early 1990s, he made twelve trips into the

former Soviet Union, with far-flung posts from Belarus to Kazakhstan and Siberia introducing

animal health products to former collective farms unaccustomed to livestock technology in use

in western markets. Those journeys, undertaken amid post-Soviet uncertainty, reinforced his

conviction that lasting progress depended on relationships, not salesmanship. Ellis’s belief in the

foundational power of relationships drew him back to the University of Missouri year after year

to offer of support and camaraderie. In 2012, Ellis was inducted into the MU College of

Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Alumni Leadership Society in recognition of his

exceptional service and leadership. And, even during the years of traveling for his sales position,

Ellis found ways to be a proud Tiger. He attended every home MU Football game from

September 1970 through November 2019, some 49 years of purposeful homecoming with

commutes from as far away as Chicago, London, Moscow, and Novosibirsk, Siberia—where a

trip to the game meant leaving Novosibirsk on a Wednesday for a Saturday game and returning

to work in Siberia by the next Wednesday.

Ellis’s greatest impact was through Alpha Gamma Rho. He helped initiate over 400 young men,

sharing the fraternity's agricultural and brotherhood values. He served on the Theta Chapter

alumni board, advised the Kappa Chapter, and was Director Emeritus on the Theta Alumni

Association board. He raised funds for house construction and renovations, attended nine

national AGR conventions, and was selected for the Coleman Club, the Theta Chapter Hall of

Fame.

In every role, he stressed that the fraternity’s true worth lay not in titles or rank but in the

enduring network of mutual support that links generations of brothers. Ellis spent his later life in

the Columbia, Mo., area, where he remained a fixture at University of Missouri football games

and stayed active in local agricultural circles.

Steve Ellis’s legacy is the many personal connections he built—on farms, at farm shows and

meetings, and in chapter houses. Through his connections, he always strove to help Alpha

Gamma Rho build better men.

To the young men he helped develop through Alpha Gamma Rho and the colleagues who relied

on him, his life proved that real impact comes from duty and relationships.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Mary Edmondson, and his father, William Ellis.

Survived by sisters, Mary Jones, Becky Daniel (Lon), brother, Dan Ellis (Nancy). Nephews,

Christopher Hardy, Nathan Ellis, and Rick Prevedel. Nieces, Beth Nail, Andra Foutch, Stephanie

Hotard. Stepfather, Dale Edmondson (Pat).

Memorial donations can be directed to the Theta Chapter Building Association Building Fund at

602 South College Avenue, Columbia, MO, 65201.

A celebration of life is scheduled for June 6, 2026, at the Theta Chapter House in Columbia.