We were sorry to hear of the passing of Dr. Ellis Mast Sowell II on April 3, 2025.

His early years were spent in Ft. Worth, Texas; he went on to Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire for high school and Duke University and Texas Christian University for college before attending University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, where he met his future wife, Sandra Knibbe, a nursing student (married in December of 1958).

After graduating from medical school, Dr. Sowell took an internship with Dr. Maxwell Wintrobe in Salt Lake City, Utah, and had a son, Gregory, before serving a year at Walker Air Force Base, Roswell, New Mexico, and a tour at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska. In Alaska, his daughter, Leslie, was born, along with his love of big-game hunting, fly fishing, RV'ing and the outdoors.

He and his family moved back to Duke University to complete a residency in ob/gyn from 1967-1970, followed by another tour with the Air Force at Elmendorf Air Force Base, where he reached the rank of Lt. Colonel. After an honorary discharge, he joined a practice with Dr. Van Kirke Nelson and Dr. John Heine in Kalispell, Montana, where he stayed for the next 24 years.

Dr. Sowell retired in 1997 and he and Sandra moved to Saddlebrooke, Arizona, where they enjoyed more RV'ing, golf and hiking, including a trek from rim to rim through the Grand Canyon. Dr. Sowell is well known for being an avid fan of the Dallas Cowboys and the Duke Blue Devils.

Memorials in Dr. Sowell's name can be directed to the Child Development Center at Resurrection Lutheran Church, 11575 N. First Avenue, Oro Valley, Arizona, 85737.