Ella P. Woolsey

HOUGHTON - Ella Phelps Woolsey, of Houghton, died Thursday (March 29, 2018) in the Absolut at Houghton Nursing Home.

She was born Dec. 26, 1922, in Batavia, a daughter of the late Harvey and Viola Woolf Phelps. On Aug. 23, 1946, in Indian Falls, she married Warren M. Woolsey, who recently preceded her in death. They were devoted, loving partners for 71 years.

Ella grew up on family farms operated by the Phelps brothers and their wives in Indian Falls. She attended high school in Akron, then enrolled at Houghton College, graduating in 1943.

After college she accepted a faculty position at Allen Home High School in Asheville, N.C., a boarding and day school for African-American women whose graduates include the renowned musician and civil rights activist Nina Simone. Teaching in what was then the deeply segregated South, Ella helped her students navigate the indignities and pain of blatant racial discrimination. She also coached the school's basketball team, which went to the state championship. As was always her way, she gave all the credit to the young women.

After she married Warren Woolsey, recently returned from active service as an airman in World War II, the couple moved to New York City so that Warren could pursue a seminary education, which included a ministry practicum in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Kentucky. There they worked together, often visiting people in the remote "hollows" on horseback.

In 1950 they accepted a call to missionary service in Sierra Leone, West Africa; they ministered there until 1966. Ella especially loved her work with women and children, teaching the women to read, assisting nurses in dispensing medications and delivering babies, and supporting women's institutes meant to foster spiritual formation and strong marriages.

When they returned to the United States with their family in 1966, they settled in Houghton. Ella joined the faculty of Rushford Central School and was a much-beloved fourth grade teacher. Many former students still describe her as their favorite teacher ever. She was also an active member of Houghton Wesleyan Church, finding special joy working with children in the nursery and young women in Pioneer Girls.

For almost 30 years while Warren taught at Houghton College, Ella served as a kind, loving and wise counselor and mentor to generations of young women. She had a gift for hospitality and was an excellent cook and baker who often invited college students and campus guests to join the family for dinner.

After retiring from teaching, Ella was an active in-home visitor with the Allegany County hospice program.

She loved to garden and took special delight in wildflowers, fall foliage and the wooded hills and fields of western New York.

To the very end of her life, Ella was devoted to her children and their spouses, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and also to a ministry of prayer. She never lost her kind, loving and positive outlook on life. Before his death in December, 2017, looking back on decades of partnership with Ella in life and ministry, Warren declared, "We made a good team." It is characteristic of Ella that among her very last words were "thank you" to those caring for her at Absolut.

Surviving are the couple's children, Stephen (Linda) Woolsey of Rushford, Matthew (Barbara) Woolsey of Houghton and Ruth (Stephen) Strand of Buffalo; a daughter-in-law, Kathleen Woolsey of Connecticut; eight grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents, husband, and three siblings, Ella was preceded in death by a son, Dr. Daniel P. Woolsey, on Oct. 21, 2017; and a grandchild, Molly Woolsey, in 2016.

Family and friends may gather from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday (April 6, 2018) at the Kopler-Williams Funeral Home, 21 N. Genesee St., Fillmore, and from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday (April 7, 2018) at the Houghton Wesleyan Church, followed by a funeral service at 11 a.m. Rev. Dr. Wesley Oden will officiate. Burial will be in the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Houghton.

Memorials, if desired, may be made to the Houghton Wesleyan Church; the Allegany County Area Foundation; Dollars for Scholars program, c/o student scholarship fund; or the Child Education fund of World Hope International.

Online condolences may be made at www.koplerwilliamsfuneralhome.com.