A Life in Time
Ninety-one years of history—from a tenant farm in rural Georgia through the Great Depression, World War II, the Civil Rights era, and into the 21st century.
Ella Kelly born on Klondike Road near Lithonia, Georgia, in her grandfather's tenant house. She was the oldest surviving child of Graylee Kelly and Ari Dini Abbott.
Hears her first telephone (grandmother's party line), first radio (at Mr. Howard's house), sees the first cars in the community (grandfather Kelly had one of two).
Kelly family moves to town so children can walk to school. Ten children total—all would eventually get high school educations.
Stock market crashes. Ella's father put on part-time work. Dr. Stewart lets the family pay school tuition on credit—the children work the cotton fields to pay it back.
During the worst of the Depression, Mama's collard patch feeds the neighborhood. She gives freely to all who come, regardless of what they can pay.
Graduates as salutatorian. Peter Marshall—future US Senate Chaplain—speaks: "Don't give up your dreams. Hitch your wagon to a star."
Mr. Rainey gives her a job teaching 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade in a two-teacher school. Salary: $50/month for 8 months. Also serves as janitor—builds fires, sweeps floors, maintains the outhouse.
Teaches during school year, attends GSCW in Milledgeville during summers. Pays back loan to Uncle Yulis. Works Saturdays at Comfort Zone to buy fabric for clothes.
Met at a Christmas party in 10th grade, reconnected on election night in Decatur. He asks her on a date. Second date: "You want to go to church with me?"
Theron gives Ella the engagement ring after dating for about 9 months.
Married in Conyers, Georgia, in front of a Christmas tree. Wedding budget: $20 total ($11.98 suit, $1.98 shoes and hat). Sisters Christy and Gladys as attendants.
"We were eating dinner on Sunday and it came over the radio that Pearl Harbor had been bombed." Ella's 27th birthday.
First child born during wartime. Theron is deferred from the draft—"You're more important where you are"—working at a supply depot serving Maxwell and Gunter Fields.
Second child. Would later marry Fred Nix Sr.
Third child. Would later marry Rev. Bill McKoy and work at Decatur Oxford Methodist Church.
Family lives in Montgomery, Alabama for 4 years, 3 months. Ella meets lifelong friend Elizabeth and is mentored by Sunday school teacher Mrs. Burton.
Mama is dying of uterine cancer. She asks Ella and Theron to come home and raise the three youngest siblings. "Theron never hesitated." They stay four years.
Three partners: Ella and two sisters-in-law. "A cute little shop" near Main Street selling quality children's ready-to-wear.
Partners decide to stop. Theron advises: "You just go back to teaching school. We'll be better off in the long run." Called to teach at Rock Chapel.
Sees bulletin board notice about teaching special ed. Inspired by George Washington Carver: "Help the man furthest down."
After 27 years of part-time study, earns her college degree. Takes three history courses in one quarter to finish. "I made three C's. I did pass."
Ella and Theron serve at the mission. When the highway takes their building, they transport the congregation to Lithonia.
Two ladies ask Ella this question, sparking years of searching for a place to hold Sunday school. The seed of a church is planted.
From rented nursery → purchased building → additional buildings → church with steeple → educational building. Volunteers from Alabama frame it up. Soup kitchen, clothes closet, food bank ministries.
Ella retires from teaching after nearly three decades in the classroom, much of it in special education.
Ella sits down to tell her life story on video—53 minutes of memories, wisdom, and faith. "I want you grandchildren to feel the time and space that I can no longer feel when I go."
Son Mickey Owen becomes salesman of the year for MASS—a proud moment Ella notes in her oral history.
Dies peacefully at her home, the Yellow Brick House in Lithonia, surrounded by her large, loving family. Funeral at Henry Funeral Home, officiated by son-in-law Rev. Bill McKoy.