Ellis Corets, was born in the Bronx (NY) and grew up there. In 1962, he moved his family to Bellevue to work for Boeing. They joined Herzl Conservative Congregation, then located in the Central District of Seattle. In June 1964, primarily because of the challenges of driving to Herzl, he and three other members began to form a new congregation to be named Ner Tamid; it was officially established in May 30, 1965.

Ner Tamid offered a large number of programs and activities and eventually owned a former church in Lake Hills for its services and other activities. In 1970, as a result of financial problems, Ner Tamid merged with Herzl to form Herzl-Ner Tamid which built a new school and synagogue on Mercer Island. On May 9, 2015, Herzl-Ner Tamid gave a well-attended 50th Anniversary celebration of Ner Tamid, chaired by Marilyn Corets, Ellis Corets' daughter. Much of the celebration was based on using the huge amount of information Ellis Corets had collected.

Ellis Corets has also been involved in the collection of information on Jewish men and women who fought in WWII. He laboriously compiled information using volumes published by the National Jewish Welfare Board of Jewish men and women who fought in WW II plus the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). The result is a database of approximately 3,000 Killed in Action and Missing in Action primarily in World War II with a small number from World War I.

Mr. Corets, 83 years old at the time of the interview, continues to work hard compiling data on Jewish service members in WWI.