Jennifer Lee Ellis

"Easy to love" - That is an apt description of Jenn Ellis. Born Jennifer Lee Ellis on July 13th, 1972, Jenn was raised in the foothills behind Fort Collins Colorado. She grew up playing in the mountains, swimming in Horsetooth, and adventuring with a close group of friends in a small neighborhood near Lory State Park. Jenn spent her winters in a home warmed by a wood burning stove and a family full of love, her summers baking in the Colorado sun and avoiding rattlesnakes. As a child Jenn was brave and curious with a big, shy smile for anyone she met.

She attended Cache La Poudre elementary and junior high schools. Jenn graduated from Poudre High School in 1991. Later in her adulthood, she attended Colorado State University where she received her Associates degree in Business Administration and her Bachelors degree in Computer Science. She loved her work with Waystar as a Senior Business Analyst and talked about returning to school to broaden her knowledge in the field.

Jenn had an amazing imagination and an ambition to bring her ideas to life. She loved crafting and working on her home, but her passion was her beautiful garden and yard that she spent most of her summers tending to. Her blackberries thought they lived in Oregon, or any place more suitable than a high plains desert, producing enough berries to share with the whole family. Her two granddaughters will cherish the memory of her rounding them up to go pick blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries from her garden.
She loved being surrounded by friends and family, planning parties and laughing. She had the best sense of humor. Both kind and a little off center. (Just ask Shayne about the turkey or her parents, Gary and Linda, about the practical jokes). Jenn was welcoming and giving, always helping anyone in need and making sure others felt loved.

Her strength is exemplified by the courage and determination she embodied raising her three children as a single mother. She loved them fiercely and uncompromisingly. They, and later her granddaughters, were her world. Jenn created magic for them when she had so little to work with. On Christmas Eve she would stay up 'til all hours of the night making personalized scavenger hunts for each child. The wonder of Christmas morning was not in the magnitude of gifts they received, but the excitement of solving the puzzles and getting to each, next little gift. She went above and beyond for her children and saw them as her greatest achievement.

Jenn met the love of her life on New Years Eve, 2022. Jen knew Jack from childhood as they attended the same schools from elementary through high school. Their connection was immediate, undeniable and gave Jenn some of the happiest days of her life. She glowed when he was with her.

She is survived by her husband Jack Brinkhoff, children Kyla, Bailee and Mason, granddaughters, Kasima and Samira, loving parents Gary and Linda, Mother-in love Barbara, sisters Laura, Michelle, Krista and their families, and her excellent dog Zeus.

Jenn will be missed every day. We are all so grateful to have had our lives touched by this amazing woman. Her light will continue to shine through each of us.

"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style" -Maya Angelou

A celebration of life ceremony will be held on Sunday, October 1st from 2-6pm at The Agave Room in Fort Collins. The entrance to The Agave Room is located just to the right of the Rio restaurant. There is a parking garage available to the north of the building off of Mason Street. Please dress casually and comfortably in your favorite colors as that is what Jenn would have wanted. The address is as follows-
The Agave Room
149 W Mountain Ave
Fort Collins, Co 80524