Former downtown boutique owner dies

Opal Earl Ellis, a member of one of Southern Nevada's oldest families and the owner of a downtown Las Vegas boutique from the 1940s through the '60s, has died. She was 87.

Ellis died Monday of respiratory failure at a nursing home in Hurricane, Utah, her town of residence since her retirement in Las Vegas in the early 1970s.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of more than 30 years will be this afternoon at the Hurricane Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints 6th Ward Chapel. Metcalf Mortuary in Hurricane handled the arrangements.

"She had a lot of moxie -- my sister was one smart tomato when it came to business," said Bette Butler, a Las Vegas resident since 1934. "Everything she did from working as a bookkeeper to selling real estate to running her own business she did well."

In the early 1940s, Ellis bought Nina Clark's women's clothing shop near 3rd and Fremont streets and changed the store's name to Opal's Apparel.

While many downtown businesses of that era sold western wear, Opal's catered to customers who desired more sophisticated high fashion.

Born Opal Earl in Enterprise, Utah, on Oct. 31, 1910, she was the third eldest of nine children of Joe Earl and Ada Canfield Earl.

The Earl family has been in Las Vegas dating back to when Mormon pioneers settled the town in the early 1900s.

Ellis graduated from Dixie High School and attended Dixie Junior College. She later graduated from a Los Angeles area business school.

Ellis came to Las Vegas in 1939 because job opportunities here were better than in Utah, Butler said.

Ellis worked for a while in Clark's store, learning the retail trade before purchasing the shop from her. Clark died last October in Henderson at age 80.

Ellis was involved with many civic activities. She and her late sister, Mattie, became the first women members of the Las Vegas Junior Chamber of Commerce, Butler said. Ellis also was a member of the Business and Professional Women's Association and the Mesquite Club.

During the successful run of her store, Opal met Curley Ellis, and the two married on Christmas Day 1957. They had no children. He survives her and is a resident of Hurricane.

After Opal lost the lease on her dress shop, she got her real estate license and worked for a while as a Realtor.

In the years just before she retired, Ellis worked as a bookkeeper at Bunker Mortuary.

In her spare time, Ellis was an avid bridge player.

In addition to her husband and sister, Ellis is survived by two brothers, Evan Earl of Laverkin, Utah, and Wayne Earl of Las Vegas.

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