WARSAW — For Tim Ellis of Warsaw, life is pretty good. He owns his own business, Low Guy Services, offering light landscaping, lawn mowing and professional house painting. “Nothing gives me greater pleasure than making someone happy with their lawn or house,” he said.

He also sells playground equipment for local communities. “I haven’t really punched a time clock in over 20 years,” he said.

He is married to Wendy and the couple have “a beautiful 11-year-old daughter, Piper.” He and Wendy have been married for 13 years. “Let me tell you about the day my life changed,” he said with a grin. “I’ve done a lot of great things but there is never anything as great as being a daddy.”

Wendy runs a hair salon from home and Tim works from home, so Piper has benefited from having both parents around as she grows up. Tim said both he and his wife came from tough backgrounds. Piper benefits from the love they missed growing up.

For Tim, life hasn’t always been so good. A Warsaw native, he graduated from Warsaw Community High School in 1986. He started working at Kline’s when he was 15 or 16 and at 18 entered the Army where he rose quickly. He was stationed in Korea for a while.

Tim grew up in an alcoholic and dysfunctional home and in time developed his own addiction. “How did you beat your addiction is a question addicts are often asked.” Tim said the real question is “How did my addiction beat me?”
In 1990, while in sitting in jail, Tim wrote to Judge Jarrett, pleading for help with his addiction.

Tim spent 45 days in jail and was then sent to Med Park, an in-patient rehabilitation center. “It (his addiction) took everything from me, but one of the great things I heard was I had a choice,” he said. He will celebrate 26 years of sobriety at the end of the month.

After being sober for five years, he actually ran into Jarrett at the courthouse and introduced himself. He explained he had written to Jarrett and Jarrett had sent him to rehab. “He started crying,” Tim said, explaining judges rarely hear about positive outcomes when someone leaves their court.

Tim credits Ros Morgan, who runs Our Father’s House in Warsaw, as being a mentor to him.
When he isn’t working, he enjoys playing guitar and building cigar box guitars that have a real bluesy sound to them.

Piper enjoys singing and is involved in Wagon Wheel productions. The family also raises chickens.
Piper and Wendy also enjoy running and Piper is now running track, with her dad cheering her on.

Tim Ellis of Warsaw overcame addiction. He now runs his own business and enjoys spending time with his wife, Wendy, and daughter, Piper.