AN ORFORD man who raised an estimated £200,000 for Warrington Wolves alongside his wife has died.

Ellis Jones, who volunteered as a Warrington Wolves club lottery agent for around 40 years, died at the age of 87 on Tuesday, January 3.

He leaves behind his wife Doreen, sons Malcolm and Stephen, two granddaughters and four great-grandchildren.

The son of a Welsh coal miner, Ellis was born in St Helens in 1929 before moving to Warrington and attending Evelyn Street Primary School in Sankey Bridges.

Ellis and retired care assistant Doreen met at a dance at Penketh Tannery Hall in 1949 before marrying at St Mary’s Church in Great Sankey in 1952.

The couple, of Willis Street, watched the Wire together from when they first met and became collectors for the club’s lottery in the 1970s, raising an estimated £200,000 before retiring from their duties in December 2015.

They celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary in 2012 with a VIP day at the Halliwell Jones Stadium courtesy of Warrington Wolves, and also hit the headlines in 2014 when Doreen lost her wedding ring at a game.

Luckily, the ring was found by a Sky Sports crew member before a televised two weeks later.

Son Steve, 59, said: “He and mum were lifelong supporters of the Wire and have watched them from their courting days to present.

“They were also two of the club’s most prolific Lifeline Lottery collectors over many, many years.

“In recent years he restarted his hobby of bowling and was a popular player on the greens of St Elphin’s and around Warrington.”

Ellis did his national service in the Royal Army Medical Corps from 1946 to 1948 and then joined the 4th Battalion South Lancashire Regiment.

He worked as a signal man on the railways, a postman and on the production line at Ford's Halewood plant and joined the South Lancashire Regimental Association in 1970, also becoming a freemason in the early 1980s.

A large contingent from Warrington Wolves, the freemasons and the regimental association are expected at his funeral at St Elphin’s Parish Church on Tuesday, January 24, at 12.30pm, while the deputy mayor of Warrington Cllr Les Morgan will also be attending.

The service will be followed by a cremation at Walton Lea Crematorium and a wake at Rylands Recreation Club.

His family have asked for donation to Meningitis Now and Crohn’s and Colitis UK instead of flowers, with Ellis and Doreen having lost a third granddaughter to meningitis in 1992.

Steve added: “He worked tirelessly for the regimental and association and freemasonry and only slowed down in the last couple of years.

“In 1992, dad was awarded the QLR Regimental Association silver medal for outstanding service, an honour that is rarely awarded.”

“He was an extremely respected freemason, holding several positions including Almoner, where he went above and beyond to secure help for families hit by illness and bereavement.”