WEST ORANGE, NJ — Ella Parker was born June 1, 1921, in Walterboro, S.C. Her parents, Elizabeth Dawson Small and Lewis Small, had six girls and one boy. Parker attended grammar school in Waycross, Ga., and then moved with her family to New York, where she was hired as a housekeeping attendant for more than 50 years.
She later moved to Newark in 1947, where she met and married Dudley Parker. Together they had three daughters and two sons. She now has one daughter alive, Barbara Muse, along with 16 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and 15 great-great-grandchildren.
Ella Parker loves to read her Bible, quote Scripture and break out singing during conversations with family. On Sundays, prior to moving to West Orange, she would invite her family to her house to eat her soul food, never allowing the television to be on when they visited, though she did enjoy television during her quiet time.
Parker attended the Phillips Metropolitan C.M.E. Church in Newark and was an usher for some time there. She also worked in a Hellmann’s mayonnaise factory and has not eaten any mayonnaise since working there. After her husband died, she took care of her children and later grandchildren. She loves to walk when going out shopping with her kids and loved the food market on Mulberry Street in Newark.
For more than 30 years, Parker and her best friend, Honey, would walk every afternoon to another friend’s house a couple of blocks down the street and plant vegetables and flowers.
She would take her kids to church every Sunday and tell them, “If you can party on Saturdays, you can attend church on Sundays.”
Parker moved to Alaris Health at West Orange in September 2020 and continues to be the same God-fearing woman that loves to talk to her family and friends.
West Orange woman becomes centenarian in June added by Editor on
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