JULY 28 • 2022 | 39
J
eff Ellis is a Michigan Senior
Olympics superstar, colon cancer
survivor and the definition of
determination.
The 63-year-old West Bloomfield
resident has won 19 gold medals in
powerlifting (bench press) in the 21
times he’s competed in the Michigan
Senior Olympics since 2009, the same
year a colonoscopy led to the discovery
of a carcinoid tumor and later four
lesions.
Ellis underwent two complicated
surgeries in 2010 at the Cleveland
Clinic and has been cancer-free since
then.
A 5-foot-9, 194-pounder, Ellis holds
two Michigan Senior Olympics records
for powerlifting, both in the 198-pound
division — he lifted 281.1 pounds in
the 55-59 age group in 2018 and 270.1
pounds in the 60-64 age group in 2019.
Ellis will join a select group next
month when he’s inducted into the
Michigan Senior Olympics Hall of
Fame.
When the four-member 2022 Hall
of Fame class is inducted Aug. 20 at
the annual Michigan Senior Olympics
Celebration of Athletes and Hall of
Fame Awards Dinner, that will raise the
number of inductees to just 30 since the
Hall of Fame was founded in 2014.
Ellis will become the first powerlifter
to earn a spot in the Hall of Fame,
and he’ll be the youngest, if not one
the youngest, inductees at the time of
induction.
Getting into the Hall of Fame is
something Ellis has craved.
He was nominated a few years ago by
his friend, fellow 1977 Southfield High
School graduate and former Michigan
State University roommate Mike
Mervis, a Michigan Senior Olympics
racewalker.
Ellis got the call he’d been waiting for
July 15 from Michigan Senior Olympics
executive director Becky Ridky while
taking a break from a work meeting in
Ann Arbor.
Ellis is a certified public accountant
and the managing partner of a firm that
has offices in Troy and Ann Arbor. He
was meeting with clients in Ann Arbor
when Ridky called him.
“I was on Cloud Nine when Becky
told me I’d been accepted into the Hall
of Fame,” Ellis said. “It took me a while
to refocus when I got back into the
meeting, which went on for another two
hours.
“I sent out a few texts during the
meeting letting people know about
me getting into the Hall of Fame, but
I couldn’t start making calls until
afterward.”
It’s not easy to get into the Michigan
Senior Olympics Hall of Fame.
Among the eligibility requirements
are being a Michigan Senior Olympics
athlete, board member or volunteer
for at least seven years and, for an
athlete, winning “numerous gold
medals in Michigan Senior Olympics
competitions.”
Nominations are reviewed by the
Michigan Senior Olympics executive
director and board of directors before
going to a selection committee of three
people chosen annually by the board.
Two of three selection committee
members must approve an individual’s
induction.
There are only supposed to be three
Hall of Fame inductees each year, but
there were five in 2014 and there are
four this year.
MIKE HARTMAN
Power of the
(Bench) Press
Weightlifter Jeff Ellis will be inducted next
month into the Michigan Senior Olympics
Hall of Fame.
STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
SPORTS
Jeff Ellis
works out at
LA Fitness in
Troy.
continued on page 40