The Way We Were: Agnes Anderson Ellis Danciger
Agnes Ellis (Danciger) was the first female to walk across the Mathews Bridge. Living just one door south of the bridge that was being built to connect downtown with Arlington, Agnes remembers the noise of construction and the excitement of making the bridge a one-of-a-kind playground.
“My sister, Sarah, and I would roller skate, ride bikes and have picnics on the bridge,” she recalled. “All the workmen knew us, and we watched as they placed rivets by hand.” When the bridge officially opened in 1953, Agnes, 12, walked across it, followed close behind by her sister, Sarah, 14.
Born to George and Agnes Ellis in 1941 at Riverside Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, Agnes is a 5th generation Floridian whose mother was the daughter of Jesse Williams, the first periodontist in North Florida. Her older sister, Sarah, and her younger brother, George, remain in Jacksonville.
Agnes began her schooling at Arlington Elementary when she was six years old, from first through sixth grade, and then went to the Bartram School for junior high, graduating from Robert E. Lee High School in 1959.
As a girl, she was always involved in church and social happenings in Riverside and Ortega.
“I was part of Riverside Little Women, sponsored by the Women’s Club of Jacksonville. I participated in the May Fete put on by the Woman’s Auxiliary of the Church of the Good Shepherd,” said Agnes, adding that she was also a member of the Junior Assembly, a cotillion put on by the parents of eighth and ninth grade students. She still remembers each and every one of her group from Junior Assembly, as most have remained her friends all of their lives.
In May 2021, Meta Magevney and Neely Towe hosted a gathering of friends who were 1959 graduates from Robert E. Lee High School, followed that evening by a dinner given by Beth Slifer. Many of the names from the Friday Musicale group attended the 2021 gathering.
After a lovely girlhood of cotillions, fetes, high school parties and being active in clubs at school as well as activities at church, Agnes attended Duke University. Although her mother had gone to Sweet Briar, Agnes chose Duke, following in her sister’s and father’s footsteps. She opted to take a six-week European trip in place of making her debut and then settled down to higher learning. Again, she was active and popular, being courted by young men from the neighboring University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While she was at Duke, Agnes and her mother where pictured in the Jacksonville Journal’s February 17, 1960 edition in a pictorial article titled “You Look Just Like Your Mother.” She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1963.
Agnes’s daughter-in-law, writer Susanna P. Barton, wrote in her book The Girls of Your Genes that Agnes resisted the young men from Chapel Hill and Duke and fortunately (for Susanna) “married Quinn R. Barton, Jr. on September 7, 1964, in St. Matthews Church with a grand reception at Timuquana Country Club with over 500 guests and a treasure trove of fine silver wedding gifts.” That marriage produced four children, including Susanna’s husband, David.
As a young mother of four, Agnes demonstrated a unique ability to multi-task, volunteering her time, tenacity and energy to many community endeavors without ever skipping a beat as a homemaker. Over the years, she served as president of the Junior League of Jacksonville, Volunteer Jacksonville, Inc., Greenscape of Jacksonville, Inc., Tree Hill, and was chosen as the first female president of the American Cancer Society, Duval County Unit. Growing up in Jacksonville with so many friends who knew her well definitely helped groom her for her volunteer career, and her no-nonsense, friendly and fearless approach was also a factor in her leadership success.
Her active membership as a board member of United Way of Jacksonville Executive Committee, the Greater Jacksonville Fair Association, Friends of Guana, Hurricane Island Outward Bound, and St. Johns Riverkeeper have garnered her lasting respect and admiration throughout the community. However, as a board member of Jacksonville’s Memorial Park Association, Agnes played a key role in having the park named to the National Register of Historic Places. In addition, she served as co-chairman of the Spirit of Victory Campaign that helped raise $1.5 million to preserve and enhance the park. For that stellar service, she was a finalist in 2018 for the coveted Florida Times-Union EVE Award. She was also appointed to serve on the City of Jacksonville Parks & Recreation Committee, the Florida Cancer Control and Research Advisory Board, and the Vestry of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. She was editor of St. Mark’s magazine, The Marksman.
Professionally, Agnes served as assistant trainer for the National Information Center on Volunteerism, worked as an advertising representative for Jacksonville Today, the director of advertising for Jacksonville Monthly, a health care consultant for Florida Health Alliance, and was the Director of Community Affairs at the College of Health, University of North Florida.
The special brand of individualism, energy and enthusiasm possessed by Agnes Danciger – whose second marriage was in 1993 to Ed Danciger, now deceased – manifested itself in much more than service to her family and community. In the 1980s, for example, Agnes ran the 26.2 Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., went snow skiing in Vail, Colorado, and even learned how to windsurf. After her marriage to Ed Danciger, she learned to sail and live on a sailboat, sailing to places as far away as Maine and the Bahamas.
Beloved by her four children: Margaret, Quinn, Ellis and David, and fondly called “Gigi” by her eight grandchildren, Agnes was presented a special book on her 70th birthday by her family that listed by number her many accomplishments as well as her personality traits. Among her accomplishments were “caught a barracuda,” “rode in hot air balloon,” “read countless books,” “sailed the Thousand Islands,” “survived a possum bite and the subsequent series of rabies shots,” and “taught her grandchildren how to enjoy life.”
Among the 70 “Things We Love About Agnes” were: “Agnes would do anything for her family and is always at the forefront in times of need,” “She is the world’s best mother,” “Her dancing skills – they not only wooed Ed, but they also got her awarded the Ms. Mama Jama at the Florida Yacht Club 4th of July Party,” “She is a wonderful hostess,” “She always finds a way to get things done.” Number 70 simply stated, “She is our Agnes!”
Currently, Agnes is an active legacy member of the Women’s Giving Alliance, an Honorary Director of Leadership Jacksonville, on the board of Jacksonville University’s Marine Science Research Institute, and continues to enjoy sailing, entertaining, travel, reading and exercise. Agnes Danciger is, according to her children and grandchildren, “the quintessential matriarch everyone loves to be around.”
By Susan D. Brandenburg
Resident Community News
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading... 
