John Montague Ely Jr. ’41

Jy died March 30, 2007, from complications following surgery, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

A descendant of one of Cedar Rapids’ founding families, his father was in the Class of 1906 and his grandfather was in the Class of 1877.

He prepared at Cedar Rapids High School. At Princeton he majored in SPIA. He was a member of the gym and varsity debating teams, was president of the American Whig Society, and was secretary of Gateway Club.

During World War II, Jy was a purser in the Merchant Marine delivering cargoes to the European theater. Returning home, he became purchasing agent for The Quaker Oats Co. in Cedar Rapids, where he worked until his retirement in 1984.

Jy served in the Iowa legislature from 1961 to 1969, and was known for his legislation abolishing the death penalty in Iowa, establishing the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, and the Iowa Fair Housing bill. He was on the boards of Planned Parenthood and the Visiting Nurses Association, and was a member of the NAACP and the People’s Unitarian Universalist Church.

Jy is survived by his wife of 64 years, Shirley Ward “Polly” Ely; their sons, John and Nathaniel; their daughter, Martha Goralka; two foster children, Charles Hudson and John Thomas; five grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.