The People in Her Story

Occupation: Farmer

Location: Klondike Road, Lithonia, GA

Worked the family farm, raising 10 children through the Depression. Arranged for Ella's first teaching job and loan for college.

📖 Ch 1, Ch 3, Ch 5

Died: Age 52 (uterine cancer)

Known for: "An angel" who fed neighbors from her garden

Raised 10 children, never complained, gave freely to those in need. Her collard patch sustained the neighborhood during the Depression.

📖 Ch 4, Ch 8

Married: December 18, 1937

Met: Christmas party, 10th grade

"He let me be me." Second date was church. Never grumbled when they moved home to raise Ella's siblings. Worked Ella's way through college.

📖 Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10

Born: June 1942

Career: Insurance sales (MASS)

First child, born during WWII. Became salesman of the year for MASS in 2002.

📖 Chapter 8

Born: October 6, 1945

Married: Fred Nix Sr.

"Just one of a kind. But a precious one to me. There's nothing in the world she wouldn't do for me."

📖 Chapter 8

Born: July 13, 1948

Married: Rev. Bill McKoy

Secretary at Decatur Oxford Methodist Church for many years. Husband Bill officiated at Ella's funeral.

📖 Ch 8, Ch 9

Occupation: Farmer

Notable: Owned one of two cars in the community

Owned the tenant house where Ella was born. The Kelly family farm was on Klondike Road near Lithonia.

📖 Ch 1, Ch 2

Notable: Had the first telephone Ella ever heard

Helped care for the Kelly children while their parents worked the fields. Her party-line phone was a marvel to young Ella.

📖 Ch 1, Ch 2

Role: Lifelong mentor

Location: Lived "just across the railroad tracks"

"She mentored me all the way through high school and was just all of my life—she was just a great person."

📖 Chapter 1

Role: Loaned Ella money for college

When Ella needed money for GSCW, her father asked Uncle Yulis for a loan. Ella paid him back over two years from her teaching salary.

📖 Ch 5, Ch 6

Role: Wedding attendant

Served as Ella's attendant at her wedding. Ella often wore Christy's clothes during her first year of marriage.

📖 Chapter 7

Born: 1902, Scotland

Later became: US Senate Chaplain (1947-1949)

Spoke at Ella's graduation: "Don't give up your dreams. Hitch your wagon to a star." Was pastor in Covington, GA at the time. Subject of "A Man Called Peter."

📖 Chapter 5

Role: Helped family during Depression

Let the Kelly family pay school tuition on credit, accepting payment in cotton field labor. "I don't know why people were so nice to the Kellys."

📖 Chapter 3

Role: Gave Ella her first teaching job

DeKalb County school superintendent who hired 17-year-old Ella to teach first, second, and third grade in a two-teacher school.

📖 Ch 5, Ch 7

Location: Montgomery, Alabama

Class size: 45 people

"I would love to have copied her... Every one of them felt like they were special." Visited Ella in the hospital and they stayed friends for life.

📖 Chapter 8

Lived: 1864-1943

Known for: Tuskegee Institute scientist

"He said he was going to help the man furthest down. That's why I went into special education." His philosophy shaped Ella's entire career.

📖 Chapter 11

Met: Montgomery, Alabama

How: On a train, then at church

"She's my best friend now... She said she prays for me every day. I don't know how you could get a friend like that that lasted this long."

📖 Chapter 8