Ella May Donovan

Ella M. Donovan was born on November 21, 1925 on Prince Edward Island, Canada, the youngest of J. Thomas Hughes and Elizabeth Jane (Mullen) Hughes. Ella is the second to last surviving member of a family of 15 children. Ella was educated in a one-room schoolhouse from grades 1 through 10, having only one teacher at a time through the grades. Having been in the Canadian school system, this was an equivalent of an American high school graduation. Ella entered the United States on a visitor's VISA for 6 months in 1948. Ella came back to Canada and got her papers to enter the U.S. permanently in 1948. Ella graduated from business school in Worcester, MA., and worked for the Rockwood Sprinkler Company until 1956. Ella was married to Albert E. Donovan on October 1st, 1955 and worked for a year then stayed at home to raise a family, 2 sons, Paul and Timothy and 2 daughters, Ann and Mary. Al and Ella and family lived in Worcester, MA from 1955 to 1961, then moved to Los Angeles, CA., and in 1963 they moved to Augusta, ME. Al and Ella retired in 1983 and moved to Red Bluff, CA., where they lived out their lives, Al passing in December of 2012. Ella was predeceased by her parents J. Thomas Hughes in 1947 and Elizabeth Jane (Mullen) Hughes in 1954, 7 brothers, Dan, Phil, Fred, Arthur, Mullen, Edwin and Walter as well as 7 sisters, Lillian Downey, Claire Fitzpatrick, (sisters Laura Hughes and Kathleen Hughes died in 1918 from Diphtheria at ages 7 & 8), Lee Crosby and sister Lauretta Hughes of the Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception. A viewing will be held at Chapel of the Flowers Funeral Home on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 from 5 PM to 7 PM with a rosary to follow. Funeral services will be held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Thursday, April 21, 2016 at 1 PM.