Services for Ellis Fay Center, formerly of Riverside, were Saturday at Manni Funeral Home in Portola. He died Feb. 9 at Washoe Medical Center in Reno, Nev. The cause of death was not disclosed. He was 82. Burial was in Whispering Pines Cemetery in Portola. Mr. Center, who was born in Sallisaw, Okla., lived in Riverside County 35 years, including in Homeland, Riverside and Perris, before moving to Vinton three years ago. He worked for the Santa Fe Railroad in Colorado and Southern Pacific Railroad in Oklahoma for 18 years before he retired in 1968. Mr. Center is survived by his wife, Goldia; four sons, Herman, Carl and Melvin, all of Riverside, and Dean of Hemet; five daughters, Jewell Doolin and Gerldine Helleson, both of Reno, Wanda Couture and Brenda Center, both of Chilcoot, and Lovena Smith of Chester; 20 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren ; two sisters, Lois Collins of Hemet and Vivian Collins of Warner, Okla.; and two brothers, Coolidge and Glenn, both of Warner.
Submitted by Anna Newell