Flora Dean (Cummings) Ellis

nee Cummings

Born July 21, 1923, Williamson County, Taylor, Texas. Moved to Austin with family in 1929 and had lived in Austin ever since. Born to Mrs. Annie Eliza Baker Cummings and P. G. Cummings Sr., youngest of twelve children, all single births. She was predeceased in death by her parents, six brothers, five sisters, two nephews, Andrew Neil Cummings and Michael Royce Ellis and her husband of 35 years, Royce D. Ellis, who predeceased her in October 1983.

Flora Dean was very proud of her ancestors. Two great grandfathers served in the civil war. Her maternal great grandmother was a native American Coushatta Indian. Her maternal grandmother Anna Eliza Thomas Baker was a midwife. Her mother and father lived to see their 61st wedding anniversary. She felt so blessed to have Christian parents.

Flora Dean attended the Austin Public Schools which included Baker and University Junior High. She graduated from the 12th grade at Austin High School in 1942 and lettered in tennis and baseball. In June of 1942 she went to the National Youth Administration (NYA) to train as an aircraft mechanic at Inks Dam, Texas. She received more training at Corpus Christi Naval Base and finished at Duncan Field in San Antonio, Texas. In January, 1943 she went to work at Bergstrom Air Force Base for the civil service as a Junior Aircraft Mechanic. She could read blueprints, do welding and make parts for airplanes (B-24 "Liberator"). She also worked for federal Texas Military District - MI as a graphotype operator and state offices (Texas Employment Commission) in the Austin area. She served 3 ½ years for the Catholic USO. She was a member of the YWCA, Knights of Columbia, International Association of Personnel in Employment Security (IAPES), American Red Cross and the Austin Western Riding Club. She was one of the first women in Austin to own a "Whizzer" motor bike and rode it to work at Bergstrom Field. She enjoyed ballroom dancing, jitterbug and square dancing. She was well known in Austin for playing tennis and league baseball. On March 5, 1948 she married Royce D. Ellis. Flora and Royce enjoyed entertaining young teens in their home and did this from 1950 to 1975. They were known by teens as Aunt Flora and Uncle Royce. After Royce's death, Flora Dean started volunteering at ten different Nursing Homes in the Austin area of which only one remains open, which is Retirement and Nursing Center. Flora Dean took 15 hours to become a "para" professional volunteer and was on the Inter-disciplinary Team for Girling Health Services and served those whom were terminal ill. As an amateur photographer, she took 2,219 pictures of residents from February 1984 to May 2009. She also taught table games at the Senior Activity Center on 29th Street. At the Retirement Nursing Center Hall of Fame she served for twenty five years with five thousand plus hours. She was a member of RSVP, OASIS, Special Friends and Hearts in Friendship. She helped Representative Bob Richardson finger print school children. If driving from North Mopac to Oak Hill, she helped plant wild flowers from Mopac at 45th Street to Oak Hill with the Girl Scouts. She has been a member of the Church of Christ in Hyde Park since 1930.

Flora had an unwavering demonstration of faith, service to others, zest for life, and most of all her deep and profound love for God. She took three Bible correspondence courses and passed all of them. She believed in deeds and not words to live a Christian life. She influenced others to find the courage to live a life of love and contribution to their community, country and most of all, to God. She was the Matriarch of her family and gathered information for future generations. She was a giver, not a taker and never met a stranger.

She is survived by first, second and third generations of nieces and nephews from all over the United States. First generation of nieces include Gail Hitchcock, Linda Baker, Sarah Givens, Tommie Jean

Cummings, Sandy Dalkilick, Patricia Kirksey, Pam Schutze, Myrgie Cummings, Lexie Ellis, Barbara Ellis, Dea Gormley and Nancy Cummings. First generation of nephews include Harley M. Hitchcock, William P. Endicott, Leo Gormley, Klint Cummings, Robert Schutze, Ken Kirksey, Bob Givens, Gale Ellis, Mike Dalkilick, and her name sake Dean Ellis.

Flora Dean died September 3, 2012. Visiting hours from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, September 7th at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home on North Lamar. Graveside services at Austin Memorial Park Cemetery, 2800 Hancock Dr, 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 8, 2012.

Honorary pallbearers will be her nieces and nephews.

Yesterday is already a dream and tomorrow is only a vision; but today, well-lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope. (From The Sanskrit)

Obituary and guestbook available online at www.wcfish.com