Ulric Alfred DUPUIS

Joseph Ellis Dupuis, a Chula Vista resident off and on for more than 60 years, died quietly at his home on the afternoon of September 27, 2005. He was 91. Born Ulric Alfred Dupuis, April 15, 1914, in Hixville, Massachusetts, and known all his life to his brothers as "Fred," Dupuis changed his name to Joseph Ellis when he joined the United States Coast Guard in 1935. He arrived in Chula Vista in 1942 as a Border Patrolman. Later he left the Border Patrol briefly, working stints at the Rohr Corporation and as a Chula Vista motorcycle police officer. He rejoined the Border Patrol in 1948, remaining with the Immigration Service until his retirement in 1973. From 1970 to 73 he served as Officer In Charge of the port of entry at San Ysidro, cooperating closely with Federal authorities during Operation Clean Sweep, an investigation of corruption at the border. Fluent in Spanish, he gave interviews on the Mexican television program Juan Luis Presenta during this time, and was quoted as a source in a 1971 National Geographic article, Two Wheels Along The Mexican Border. In 1950 he married Sheila Marjorie Winrow, a long-time Chula Vista resident, with whom he had three children. His wife's roots in Chula Vista were so deep that he often joked about holding the Border Patrol record for transfers back to the area; five in 20 years. His INS career took him to places as far and wide as Havana, Cuba; Memphis, Tennessee; Salinas; Burlington, Vermont; San Pedro and Spokane, Washington, where he was Chief Patrol Inspector from 1967 to 1969. He served a brief tour of duty overseas in 1965, on a USAID mission to Laos and Thailand. Sheila Winrow Dupuis died in 2000. The first member of his family to finish high school, he was also a lifelong baseball fan, one of his proudest boasts being that during his four years of high school in Massachusetts, he was the sole shortstop on his high school baseball team, once turning an unassisted triple play. A vocal, dedicated San Diego Padres fan, he occasionally attended games at Qualcomm Stadium, but seldom missed one on television. He was an enthusiastic fisherman, a superb handyman and gardener, loved Bing Crosby's music and John Wayne's movies, and doted on his grandchildren. Married three times, he had a son from his second marriage, Vance Dupuis of Michigan, who died in 2002. A daughter from his third marriage, Lynne Dupuis of Chula Vista, died in 2004. Survivors include daughter Carla Guido and son Kelley Dupuis, both of Chula Vista; grandchildren, Joseph, Alicia and Ricardo Guido of Chula Vista; stepson Garry DuPuy of Spring Valley; step-grandchildren, Jesse and Amanda DuPuy of Spring Valley; stepdaughter Madelon Lawson of Reno, NV; and step-granddaughter SarahLawson-Wright of Missouri. No Services are planned. Please sign the guest book at obituaries.uniontrib.com Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune on 10/13/2005.