The Life of the Party

Grandma Phillips was a popular lady in the Ellet community of Akron, Ohio. Here is a list of her talents that friends and family relied on:

Joke teller
Pianist
Singer
Harmonica player
Fortune teller
Dressmaker
President of Ellet School's PTA for several years
                     
She was a jolly woman who kept things moving along wherever she made an appearance. When I think of her, I picture her in a house dress of bold flower print preparing a big Thanksgiving dinner while chatting with her daughters and mother in the kitchen. I can also see her in a dark dress with pleated skirt and a pretty lace collar singing a hymn at her church, her mother on one side and me on her other side. Grandma, Great Grandma, and I would each 
enjoy a tiny tablet of sen-sen while seated in the church pew together. (My mother was seated in the choir loft because she was an alto in the choir.)  Yes, I depended on Grandma, too. She was a happy person to stick around with.

The photograph is probably Cora's wedding picture, age 27, on 16 April 1902...the sleeves look like big balloons, don't they?


Cora Mae Lewis
Spouse: Clyde B. Phillips
Born 24 Sep 1875 Newton, Trumbull, OH
Died 18 Feb 1942 Akron, Summit, OH
Sources: Census of 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920.1930, 1940. Death, cemetery
records, newspaper obituaries from Akron Beacon Journal and 
former church in central Akron, the Methodist Episcopalian Church, 
interviews with my mother, and my own vivid memories of Cora.