Ella Mae Ivester

She was 94 years old and lived a good part of her life in East Ridge, Tn. She was born September 22, 1927 in Gordon County, GA. Daughter of the late Goldie and Belle Gilbert Brannon. She was a member of Ridgedale Baptist Church.

Ella worked at Bryan Hosiery Mill as a young woman but was best known as “The Avon Lady”. She worked for Avon for 30+ years. She loved country music and enjoyed going to Nashville to the Grand Ole Opry. Many trips were made there with her husband Paul. Many a night family would come over to the house and they would pick the guitar and sing half the night away. She loved singing. She loved her husband Paul’s family like her own. They are the Delaney’s of Miami, FL and the Helton’s of East Ridge. Thru the years there were many a card game played on Helton Hill and many Florida trips. She also never missed going to her own family reunions. Whether it be the Brannon or Gilbert Families held in the surrounding area of Calhoun GA. Ella loved her family very much. Her mother died at an early age and so she became a mother figure to Marcella who was her baby sister and Ella helped raise her and thought of her as a daughter. Her brother Max would take all the sisters to Gatlinburg thru the years at Christmas so they would have family time together. She always looked forward to those trips. In later years she loved going to Tunica, MS or Cherokee, NC with her daughter Carol and Brenda Ashley a dear friend.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 49 years William Paul Ivester in 2001; four sisters Faye Thatcher, Marcella Cochran, Annie Bell Burchett, and Adell Mulkey; three brothers Dee Brannon, Billy Brannon, and Max Brannon.

She leaves her daughter Carol Ivester Abbott and husband Jerry; son Gerald Ivester and wife Julie; one brother-in-law James Ivester of Port Saint Lucie, FL and one sister-in-law Beverly Ivester of Homestead, FL; several nieces, nephews and other relatives. Our family would like to thank Caregivers at Home for their wonderful staff in helping to care for Mother.

Service will be held at Chattanooga Funeral Home East Chapel in East Ridge, TN on Tuesday, July 26th at 2:00 PM. The family will receive friends on Monday, July 25th between the hours of 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM at the funeral home and on Tuesday, July 26th from 1:00 PM until the funeral hour. Interment will follow in Hamilton Memorial Gardens.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Ridgedale Baptist Church or St. Jude Children’s Hospital in memory of her niece Sabrina Thatcher.

Max Brannon & Sons Funeral Home of Calhoun is in charge of the funeral services for Mrs. Ella Mae Brannon Ivester and is assisted by Chattanooga Funeral Home East Chapel.