Bill Ellis: Goldie Ellis was a great mother

My mother was born Jan. 23, 1910, at Laing in the upper area of Cabin Creek, W.Va. Her parents were Alex Perry Sr. and Margaret Jane Perry. The family soon moved on up to Decota and settled at the mouth of Sugar Camp Hollow, midway between Decota and Carbon.

It was 37 years after her birth that she moved to Putnam County on Monday June 2, 1947. That fall I enrolled for my senior year at Hurricane High School. Graduation was on Thursday, May 13, 1948. That is why we are having our 60th High School Graduation Reunion on Tuesday of next week.

We immediately met some of the finest people in all the world. No wonder this is such a tremendous place to live.

One of the superb mothers of the county was Pearl Chapman. The first evening we were here, we received a freshly baked delicious apple pie from Mrs. Harry (Pearl) Chapman, the mother of Freda, Bill, Bob and Phyllis. The Chapman's grandson, Marty, the son of Bob, is the executive director of the Putnam County Chamber of Commerce.

Sunday, May 11, we will celebrate Mother's Day, the 101st anniversary of this special day. I think of many wonderful mothers whom I have met here. A few of many who stand out in my recall system from those early years in the county are: Alice Eggleton, Virginia Fulks, Freda Sovine, Mabel Coyner, Drucilla Cavender, Dickie Racer, Oma White, Becky Boggess, Rena Anderson, Alma Wells, Myrtle Arbaugh, Vernie McCallister, Mish Maddox, Faye Maddox, Anna Gandee, Arlene Wells, Mamie Hamon, Lula Joyce, Mickey Perry, Marie Haynie, Mary White, Jean Joyce and others, who have been model mothers.

In 1980, my mother was named the Putnam County Belle and represented our county with other West Virginia Belles who were all photographed together at the West Virginia Folk Festival in Glenville, W.Va. It was on June 17, 2004, that our son, Mark, then a math professor at Glenville State, called to tell us he had seen his grandmother's picture in Glenville.

She was just 20 years old when I was born. She was the first woman I learned to love. There are so many outstanding things I remember about her such as keeping me in clean and often well-patched clothes, warm delicious meals, the best hot rolls I have ever eaten, singing songs and reading Bible stories, being interested in my school work, loving Dad, then my sister, Marie, and brother, Eldridge.

I confess, without hesitation, that I miss her and have every day since she left for her heavenly home on Jan. 24, 1989. Mother's Day will bring more precious memories and probably a few more tears because a godly mother must be more like God than any person on earth. Like Kitty's mother, she was a saint! And I loved them.

Many who read this will be in church with their mothers on Sunday (that is a priceless privilege), others will go visit her, some will call to a more distant place and many of us will live much of the day with our very best memories.

Bill Ellis is a syndicated columnist who can be reached at P.O. Box 345, Scott Depot, WV 25560; phone (304) 757-6089.