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

