Ellen Inlow Hiscock

HISCOCK, ELLEN INLOW 102. Born August 3, 1904 in Margerum, AL, Ellen moved to south Florida in 1908. She and her three brothers Blondie, Bob and Grover, lost their mother when Ellen was only eight years old. In the early 1900's it was considered improper for a little girl to be raised in a household without a woman, so Ellen joined a branch of her extended family. The Florida Ellen knew was rural, with Miami (pronounced My-am-uh by vintage Floridians) just a small town. They traveled dirt roads on horseback and in horse-drawn buggies. Eventually her brothers followed Ellen to Florida. When she was about 14 and living with Blondie and his wife Bessie in New Smyrna, the son of a local minister told friends and family that she was the girl he planned to marry. In 1920, Sumner Dillon "Hitch" Hiscock married Ellen. With their three daughters, Betty, Joanie and Arra Mae, the couple lived in various parts of Florida including West Palm, New Smyrna, Daytona and eventually Orlando, where all three girls graduated from Orlando High School. Ellen, known to generations of family and friends as "Nana," lived in the same house in Orlando's College Park from 1935 until her death. Nana was a charter member of the College Park United Methodist Church, active in the Women's Society of Christian Service and the Grandmothers Club and was a Meals-On-Wheels volunteer for many years. Nana was sitter to grandchildren and great grandchildren, carpool driver, biscuit baker, bass fisherwoman, even served as an officer of Toy Parade, the College Park landmark founded by her daughter Betty Bruner. She was an avid gardener, spending her happiest moments in her yard, tending her Amaryllis, Camellias, her prize Bird of Paradise brought from Hawaii by daughter Joanie, and the vegetable garden she and grandson Ben Smathers planted every year for nearly 20 years. During the past three years, when she could no longer work outside, Nana enjoyed sitting at the kitchen window surveying her lush yard and watching a colorful assortment of birds feed and bathe. Nana was preceded in death by her beloved husband Sumner, her daughter Betty Bruner and son-in-law Lou Bruner, great-grandchildren Audrey Grice, Vincent Ogletree, Ellee Smathers and Jake Smathers, and step-granddaughter Bonnie Williams. Nana is survived by daughters Joan Grice and Arra Mae Matheison (Bob), grandchildren Diane Bruner Patrick, Bobbie Bruner, Liz Bruner, George D. "Judge" Grice, Ill (Charleston, SC), Dorothy Ellen "De" Grice (New York, NY), Jeff Smathers (Republic of Marshall Islands), Steve Smathers, Ben Smathers, Jr., Jay Smathers (Austin, TX), Laura Smathers Ahmad (Decatur, GA), Cindy Singleton, Alice Williams, Pat Williams (Atlanta, GA), several grand-spouses, 18 great-grandchildren, seven great-great grandchildren, many lifelong friends and neighbors, and devoted caregivers who helped her remain independent and in her own home. All will miss her terribly. A service will be held in the chapel at Woodlawn Funeral Home on Sunday, May 20th at 12 Noon. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Children's Home Society of Florida, 3535 Lawton Road, Suite 260, Orlando, FL 32803.