Egg Harbor Township Deputy Mayor Ray Ellis was honored for Black History Month at the Feb. 17 Atlantic County Board of County Commissioners meeting.
Ellis, who serves on the Egg Harbor Township Committee, was selected to serve as deputy mayor in 2025 and 2026, becoming the first Black person to hold that position in the township’s history.
Atlantic County Commissioner Chairman John Risley said the board sought to honor someone who exemplifies service and dedication to the community. He pointed to Ellis’ decades of work with young people as a football coach for over 44 years, teacher and law enforcement officer.
“Ray’s the kind of guy that doesn’t run around the county bragging about what he’s done or doing. He’s a class act all the way,” Risley said. “And he’s more interested in helping young men, young people, grow up to be good members of society. And coaching, of course, is a great way of doing that.”
Risley, who has known Ellis for about 15 years through local government and community involvement, said the deputy mayor is not one to seek attention.
“There’s an old saying that you’re ‘never a hero in your own hometown.’ I’m trying to break that with this nomination…He is a hero to us, and he does a lot of work behind the scenes,” he said.
The chairman said he proposed Ellis’ name for the annual Black History Month recognition and received immediate support from County Executive Dennis Levinson and fellow commissioners.
Ellis’ path of service began in education in his early 20s. He worked at Harbor Fields, the county’s juvenile detention center, before taking a permanent substitute position teaching fifth grade at the former Westside School in Atlantic City.
“The thing I loved about [teaching] is [seeing] them later on in life, successful and working hard, and just being thankful,” Ellis said.
He also helped start a GED program at Atlantic Cape Community College and was instrumental in bringing Covenant House to the area.
At Harbor Fields, Ellis said his focus was clear: “It was just teaching these young guys that made poor decisions how to make better decisions and move on, be productive in life. And we were pretty successful for kids not returning to the system.”
Although he initially had no plans to enter law enforcement, a spur-of-the-moment decision changed his career trajectory.
When Ellis was 30, he and his friends decided to take the police test “as a joke,” but Ellis said he scored “pretty well.”
“I never really wanted to be a cop, but I said, ‘You know what? That could contribute and help even more if I’m a police officer, I could set examples,’” he said.
He served 20 years as a police officer in Atlantic City, much of that time working with juveniles and as a school resource officer at Atlantic City High School. He also helped start the city’s curfew unit in the 1990s.
Throughout it all, Ellis continued coaching youth football — 21 years with the Atlantic City Dolphins and 24 years in Egg Harbor Township’s junior league programs.
“My philosophy is ‘boys to men.’ I love the boys and show them and teach them how to be men. Football is a game of life, and that’s why I would call it ‘boys to men,’ because they learned team sports, how to get along with brothers, strategies and everything else,” he said.
Today, Ellis remains deeply involved with local youth, launching new programs and staying visible in the community through coaching football in the township and his position as deputy mayor.
“I like that position because I like being out there helping people,” he said.
Reflecting on the county’s recognition, Ellis said he was humbled.
“Well, like my mother and a lot of older folks say, ‘give me my roses where I can smell them.’ I never looked for a pat on the back, because I enjoy what I do and I’ve been blessed with the skills to get through to these young folks, so I’m really excited about it,” he said. “Whether I get a pat on the back or not, I’ll be with these kids, trying to mentor, show them the right way every day.”
Julia graduated from Rider University in 2024 with a BA in multiplatform journalism and minor in social media strategies. In addition to reporting on local news for Shore Local, she is a social media strategist for small businesses. Connect with her: shorelocaljulia@gmail.com or @juliatrain on Instagram.
