Mrs. Ellis

I almost didn't write this post. I try very hard to respect the privacy of the members of our church. But Mrs. Ellis was not just a member of WABC to my family. Mrs. Ellis passed away last week at the age of 99. I have known her almost my entire life. I called her husband (Deacon Ellis) Pop Pop just like all of his other grandchildren did (she was my aunts mother). He called me Little Mary after my mom. But Mrs. Ellis was always Mrs. Ellis. Not because I feared her or disliked her, but because I respected her so much. She commanded respect not because she asked for it, it was just the way you treated Mrs. Clara Ellis. She weighed less then a 100 pounds, spoke in a soft voice but as Marc said in his eulogy to her on Friday when Mrs. Ellis spoke everyone listened. Mrs. Ellis and her family are a big part of the reason Marc and I are at WABC today. She will be thoroughly missed, but she leaves behind a very strong legacy. By the way this picture was taken just a week ago. When she passed she was ready to go, no fanfare, no big explosions. Monday night Marc said goodnight to her and Tuesday morning she was gone. Ask anyone and they can tell you where Mrs. Ellis is today. Can we say the same thing if we passed away tomorrow?