Rafaela Ann Ellis

Rafaela (Rafi) Ellis, 65, of Lakeland, FL passed away at home on Sunday, May 3, due to complications of cancer.

A retired English professor at Polk State College as well as author of five books and numerous newspaper and magazine articles, Rafi was born in Syracuse, NY to the late Raffee G. Ellis (whose namesake she was) and Loretta Ventiquattro Ellis. Rafi’s flair for the arts became apparent during a childhood spent in Syracuse, Ballston Lake, NY, and Allison Park, PA. In addition to writing, she sang, played guitar, painted, recited, and enjoyed museums, theater, and film as much as she loved books.

After graduating from North Allegheny High School in 1978, Rafi pursued higher education at the University of Pittsburgh and Merrimack College, which named her a Presidential Scholar and in 1982 awarded her a magna cum laude degree in English. She went on to earn an MA in English and American Literature with honors from Villanova University. Rafi’s 1985 master’s thesis on the Transcendentalists—19th century philosophers and writers who believed in the inherent goodness of people and nature and in the intuitive power of the individual soul—foreshadowed her involvement with the Unitarian Universalist Church and her longstanding commitment to peace and social justice.

Rafi began her career as a writer and editor in what is now viewed as a golden age of publishing and print journalism. She worked in Philadelphia for The Franklin Mint and Chelsea House, where her projects included composing prefaces to deluxe editions of books by distinguished writers such as Iris Murdoch and authoring books for children, including a primer on the Central Intelligence Agency and biographies of U.S. Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Martin Van Buren. (Her Van Buren biography prompted one fifth grader to send Rafi a thank you letter for his successful book report.) After relocating to Orlando in 1988, Rafi was hired as editor of AAA’s Car & Travel Magazine, which had a circulation of over 2 million readers. This role gave her the opportunity to travel throughout the United States, rating hotels and resorts and exploring pursuits that included off-road driving, fly fishing, and skeet shooting. At the same time, Rafi wrote a number of “My Turn” op-ed columns for The Orlando Sentinel, which also published her short story “The Brown Dress,” inspired by her maternal grandmother, Josie Ventiquattro.

During her years in Orlando, Rafi became active in the local peace and justice movement and while involved in protests against the 1991 Gulf War, she met her husband, Ronald L. Nickolas, now a retired social worker. They married on December 31, 1991, and were together for over 34 years.

After relocating to Lakeland in 1999, Rafi began her career as an academic, teaching English Composition as an adjunct professor at Florida Southern College for six years. She continued her work as a freelance writer and editor for general, business, and medical publications, including a five-year stint as theater and classical music reviewer for The Lakeland Ledger—where she had the opportunity to write about shows ranging from “A Christmas Carol” to “Steel Magnolias” and to interview such musical luminaries as Marvin Hamlisch, Sherrill Milnes, and Denyce Graves.

In 2007, Rafi became a full-time professor of English Composition and English Literature at Polk State College in Lakeland. She was awarded tenure in 2013 and retired in 2024 as a consequence of her declining health. Rafi was a popular teacher whose classes often had wait lists, and she conducted a number of seminars on teaching methods. She taught in both traditional and honors programs, as well as joining the Faculty Senate, where she was a fearless voice for faculty rights and academic freedom. Rafi also helped to establish a campus pantry for food-insecure students and served as Secretary of The Homeless Coalition of Polk County.

Rafi remained active in the peace and justice movement, and at one time assumed the presidency of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lakeland. She later became a Universal Life Minister and—wearing a stole inherited from one of her late uncles, Fr. Alfred Ellis, OSA—officiated several weddings, including the wedding of a former student.

To the end of her days, Rafi remained a passionate advocate for peace and justice in the Middle East, especially for the independence of Lebanon and the establishment of a free Palestine. An essay she published in The Christian Science Monitor gives insight into her views on her Lebanese and Italian heritage: https://www.csmonitor.com/1996/1104/110496.home.home.2.html#

Rafi is survived by her husband, Ronald L. Nickolas of Lakeland; her mother, Loretta Ventiquattro Ellis of Altamonte Springs, FL; two brothers, Christopher Ellis (Marcie Hadden) of Fairview, TN and Matthew Ellis (Carmela De Toma) of Blackwood, NJ; two sisters, Angele Ellis of Pittsburgh, PA and Diana Ellis of Winter Park, FL; a nephew and niece, Dominic Ellis and Maria Ellis of Blackwood, NJ, and many cousins and friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) https://action.aclu.org/give/pm-donate-to-aclu or to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) https://www.pcrf.net/donate

Interment will be private. A Celebration of Life will take place on August 22, 2026 from 1-5 PM at the Polk Theatre.