Elis had such a love of animals and the sight of any animal being abused sickened him.  He once told me "Teri sometimes I would much rather work with animals then work with people", and I totally agreed with him.  He also had the gift of training dogs, rehabilitating them giving them another chance at life.  Elis mentioned that he would love to save every unwanted, mistreated dog out there that has been dumped on the side of the road, shelters, etc.  When he mentioned this to me I was taken aback because this was what I wanted to do.  Elis was the kind of man with so much compassion, passion, love, kindness and the willingness to do what is right for all animals.  He was their voice, since animals could not speak for themselves, Elis could do the talking for them.

The first time I met Elis (Nelson) was in high school.  He was a little on the shy, quiet side until he felt comfortable enough to  talk to you.  Once Elis found his comfort zone, he got along with everyone.  He just had this way of making people smile.   Everyone just loved Elis and I never heard anyone say anything negative regarding Elis.  He was just an all around great guy, who grew up to become a fantastic man who has many people who love him and miss him.