Ella Marjorie Plummer Fussner Quinn - My Aunt

My dad had several brothers and sisters, but the only one that I really got to know was my Aunt Ella.  She and my Uncle George were the only ones who lived close by when I was growing up.  Uncle George died when I was fairly young.  

Aunt Ella with her brother, my Uncle Warren.

Aunt Ella was born in Brookville, Indiana on May 8 1912.  She was next in line to my dad.  She grew up around Brookville and then moved to Connersville, Indiana.  She married John Fussner when she was fifteen and he was twenty-three.  She had her only daughter when she was 18.  She was married to John for nine years and then they got a divorce.  She married William Quinn in 1936, when she was 26 years old.  I'm not sure how many years they were married, but they got divorced.

Aunt Ella was a wonderful, kind lady, but she had a problem.  She was an alcoholic.  I don't know when alcohol became a problem for her.  Ella's daughter, Phyllis, left to live with Ella's sister.  

Aunt Ella would come and stay with us for a week at a time, then one day she would just leave.  I didn't know why for a long time.  I found out that she did that with all her brothers and sisters.  She was a favorite aunt of all the kids.  When she came around she was so much fun.  She would give us lots of attention and everyone loved her.  She just couldn't stay away from alcohol for a very long time.  

Eventually Aunt Ella didn't come around any more, her health had gotten bad.  She went to Cincinnati to stay with her daughter.  She then moved into a nursing home until she died on September 24, 1982.

I will always remember the fun times we had with Aunt Ella, I wish she could have had some of the happiness she passed around to others.