A Whitefish man is recovering after an 800-pound timber beam fell on his head earlier this month.

Ken Ellis is a humble leader who puts others before himself, community members say. 

A devoted Catholic at St. Charles Parish, Ellis has been a pillar for the Whitefish Knights of Columbus for about two decades, serving as treasurer and president.  

Fellow Knight Jeff Mase said, “He’s a quiet man that carries a big stick. 

“He’s a silent leader and everybody will follow because he’s a doer, he’s a giver.” 

While working long hours, “he’s making time for others, always,” Mase said. “We say he’s the Boy Scout of Whitefish.”  

Mase said Ellis is of exemplary character but reserved, keeping quiet the fact that he served as a Marine Recon for four years.  

Ellis, a brother of five, grew up in the small town of Clearwater, Minnesota.  

Ellis enlisted right after graduating high school. He served from 1989 to 1993 as a part of the Marine Corps 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, where he was deployed in the Gulf War and to Somalia. 

In 1994 Ken moved to Whitefish. He briefly worked as a handyman at Kandahar on Big Mountain before joining a trail crew. Until the turn of the century, Ken worked on trails and historic preservations in Glacier National Park, working on lookout towers and cabins.  

In 2000 Ellis began his work at Centennial Timber Frames. In 2016, Ellis bought the business from his mentors and built a 5,000-foot shop at his home in West Valley.  

Ellis’s timber frames are a work of soul. A true craftmanship, the frames are handcrafted with a classic woodworking technique that adheres joints just wood on wood.  

Ellis met his wife Nancy on a blind date in 2013.  

Ellis is a man of service with integrity and honor, who is also warm and thoughtful, with a beautiful balance of strength and emotion, she said.  

Karen Schneider, Nancy’s sister, said Ellis is a “mountain goat.”  

“He’s a one-man show in terms of what he builds,” Schneider said. “There’s nothing he can’t do.”  

ON JUNE 2, a bit after noon, Nancy was out on a hike when she received a call.  

“Ken’s been in an accident,” a man on the job site said. “He’s being taken to Kalispell now. He got knocked up in the head pretty good. He’s aware, he knows his name.”  

Ellis would often stay on job sites to ensure the timber beams were installed properly, assisting other workers on the site who may be unfamiliar with the craft.  

While preparing the timber, the 800-pound beam had fallen onto Ellis’s head, crushing his cervical spine. 

An ambulance picked Ellis up from the build on a steep hill towards the southeast end of Flathead Lake and drove him two miles to where a helicopter was waiting to medivac him to Logan Health.  

Trying to set aside panic, Nancy threw things into the car and headed to the hospital.  

When she arrived, Ellis was emotional and refusing pain meds. Ellis insisted the job site was called ­— to make sure the wood beam was OK.  

The first hours after the accident were horrible. Nancy worried about hemorrhaging.  

The damage to vertebrae C5, C6 and C7 and the discs was extensive. Damage to the carotid artery, which can quickly cause a blood clot to the brain leading to death, was unknown. Part of Ellis’s wrist was also crushed. 

Nancy called Mase, who quickly arrived. Two of Ken’s brothers, one in Minnesota and another in Portland, drove through the night to arrive in Kalispell.  

“I wanted to call someone immediately and get the prayers going,” Nancy said. “Jeff was a good set of ears.”  

Two days after the accident Ken had spinal surgery, fusing cervical vertebrae C4 through C7, placing plastic-like bone graft cages and a titanium plate with rods and pins to stabilize the area. 

For the next several months Ellis is required to wear a neck brace 24/7 with the hope that the bones will grow and fuse together on their own, which can take over a year.   

Any movement for a man who is normally always on the move could cause paralysis.  

A solid recovery is possible, with time, but there could be a loss of movement. There could also be permanent nerve damage in his hand.  

On a normal morning at home, Ellis would throw a bag of chicken food over his shoulder and go hike up a hill, Nancy Ellis said.  

“It’s not going to look like that,” she said somberly. “His work, he’s moving his head constantly... the work life will be unknown.”  

Despite the fear, Nancy said by a great grace of God and many angels, Ken has a clear head, and there is much to be grateful for.  

Nancy said the nurses, CNAs and neurosurgeon Dr. Kelly Schmidt were phenomenal. The outpouring of love and support has been tremendous. Ken returned home from the hospital on last week.  

With Ken’s humility it took some convincing, but there is a Go Fund Me available. Generosity will help with medical bills and household stability while Ken is out of work for the next few months.  

The Go Fund Me is available at: ww.gofundme.com/f/plz-help-ken-ellis-med-recovery-from-traumatic-work-injury 

Editor Kelsey Evans can be reached at 406-862-3505 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at whitefishpilot.com/support.