Scholarship honors Jessica Ellis Scholarship honors Jessica Ellis

Now, more than a year and a half after the 24-year-old soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad, a new scholarship in her honor will help a Central Oregon Community College student work toward his or her own medical career.

This fall, the college will be one of more than 50 institutions around the country that will offer a scholarship in the name of a member of the military killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. The effort is organized by the Yellow Ribbon Support Center, an Ohio-based organization founded by the father of a soldier who died after being captured in Iraq in 2004.

Ellis, a 2002 graduate of Lakeview High School, attended COCC for two years before joining the Army. She was on her second deployment to Iraq with the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) when she was killed in May 2008.

Ellis’ parents, who live in Baker City, were recently notified that Jessica had been selected for one of the scholarships, which are given in honor of one fallen member of the military from each state.

“Jessica, in her short life, had many fond memories of her time in Bend as a student at the college,” he said. “We felt it was very fitting.”

Ellis, who completed more than half of her coursework at COCC before joining the Army, was awarded an honorary degree after her death.

College Relations Director Ron Paradis said the degree was the first awarded to a former student killed while serving in the military. The “Let Us Never Forget” scholarship is also a first for COCC, he said.

Keith Maupin, who founded the Yellow Ribbon Support Center after his son Matt, then 20, went missing in 2004 after his convoy was ambushed. The soldier’s remains were found nearly four years later, in March 2008.

Maupin said the scholarships started as a way to keep his son’s memory alive — and now, the memory of dozens of others like him.

“We started doing that scholarship, bottom line, so that boy’s name will be mentioned one more time,” Maupin said. “And if he’s mentioned he’s not forgotten.”

Steve Ellis said he’s pleased that Central Oregonians continue to remember his daughter and celebrate her life. He said meeting the people she touched — both as a student and a soldier — have helped his family to heal.

Ellis said he’s particularly enjoyed hearing the stories of the soldiers who served alongside Ellis in Iraq. He recalled one soldier who told him about how the young woman many called “Doc Ellis” had treated him after their Humvee was hit with an improvised explosive device.

“What we wonder is, with two tours of Iraq, how many of these were there, how many near-misses did she have out there?” he said. “And how many people did she help, how many lives did she save? We hear these stories and we wonder.”

Erin Golden can be reached at 541-617-7837 or at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it