Michael Daye Ellis was the go-to guy when someone found baby possums in a trash bin or came across an injured bird. He ensured the animals received proper care.
"He had an extra knack for being able to tune into an animal, to relate to it, empathize with it and be compassionate," said Dr. Jeremy Francis Dahl, president/founder of the Deep Forest Field School, a local nonprofit dedicated to forest conservation. "He was also practical about it."
In the late 1980s, Mr. Ellis accompanied Dr. Dahl -- then a research professor for the Yerkes National Primate Research Center -- on a trip to Belize. Mr. Ellis took a tumble that shattered his left leg.
While resting at the base camp, he met some Americans who were in search of someone to help run a wildlife rescue effort in Washington state. He moved from Atlanta to volunteer, a decision that launched a 24-year career in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation. He worked at 17 centers across the country.
When he returned to Atlanta, the builder-turned-rescuer told Henry Finkbeiner, a friend, about plans to start a local wildlife rehab center.
"Three years passed from that day to the day he founded AWARE," Mr. Finkbeiner said. "A lot of people believed in Michael and stuck with him, and finally, everything clicked."
Today, the Atlanta Wild Animal Rescue Effort is the only wildlife center in Georgia that accepts all species of animals 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Last year it cared for 1,500 hawks, owls, rabbits, songbirds and other wild animals.
"He just gave his everything to the rescue of those wild animals," said his aunt, Bobbie Cox of Greensboro, N.C. "He lived on the grounds and was devoted to what he was doing. He had a mission and he fulfilled it."
On Sunday, the chain-smoker died from complications of lung cancer at Mr. Finkbeiner's home in Decatur. He was 64. A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday at AWARE, 4158 Klondike Road, Lithonia. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to AWARE.
Mr. Ellis was born in Richmond, Va., the only child of the late George and Gwen Ellis. He didn't attend college, but served in the Army. AWARE started taking in animals in 2006; he served as its executive director.
"He had an incredible way with animals," said Linda Potter, the center's interim executive director. "If some of us were struggling with one, he'd come over and, just by listening to him, they'd begin to relax. I have a hard time explaining how he did it, but he could get them to do things others couldn't."
Often, this rescuer was called on for his animal expertise. Last year, Mr. Ellis was sought after when the Gwinnett County community of Berkeley Lake crafted an ordinance to outlaw feeding wildlife.
"Urban wildlife is a constant, and it's never going to change," he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "You just never want a wild animal to be comfortable with people. The last thing you want is to have a hawk or an owl or a fox to walk up to someone and ask for a handout."
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