Son of Mack Donald and Elsie Mae (nee Yarbrough) Gattis.

William Ellis Gattis married Sue Laurene Prevatt on 30 Aug 1936 in Miami, Dade County, Florida with John Pearl Prevatt as the officiant. One of his four sisters is Rosa Etta Gattis Fussell

Pappy's life-long dream was to farm, like his daddy. As a teenager, he was quite good at it. In 1927 in Leesburg, Georgia, he netted $1600 (on the Clegg farm) raising corn, peanuts, sweet potatoes and harvesting syrup and hay. After moving to Miami, he met his future wife and chose another vocation. Pappy worked for "Yes, Bananas" in Miami as well as for Shands Hospital (in maintenance dept.) in Gainesville before he retired. He could create or repair anything! He was a hard-working man and was loyal to a fault.

Pappy loved to tease everyone, and grandkids were no exception. The first question addressed to us every time we visited wasn't, "How are you?" or "What have you been up to?" It was, "Have you eaten, yet?" He knew to close and lock the door if the answer were "No."

Pappy helped me make money over the summers when I was a young teenager by giving me an old lawn mower of his; at that time, a small lot could bring in ~ $5.00 (that's when gas was well under a dollar/gal.) He taught me how to maintain the mower, but didn't indicate the proper time to check the oil level. Of course, one afternoon I thought I should verify the oil was still there and opened the lid while the mower was on. He saw what was about to transpire with the biggest grin on his face; my pride, my face, and my T-shirt were on the losing end! I remember that event fondly.

My Pappy was full of spunk; I would imagine that growing up during the Great Depression molded his character in that manner. Our family misses him dearly and I know that if he were still with us, he would be asking his great-grandchildren the same question: "Have you eaten, yet?"