Ella Mae Thomas

Ella Mae was born on December 11, 1929 in a small house in Binghampton to Lillie (deceased) and Burl (deceased) Rivers. At the time, she had 3 adult siblings, Sally, Will Allen, and Jack, all who have proceeded her in death. She was raised in Binghampton but attended Booker T Washington High School where she received her high school diploma and learned the motto, we lead while others follow. She lived her life with that sense of dignity, never allowing adversity to defeat her. After high school that’s when her first child was born, Gene DeMarco (deceased). She also entered the entertainment field as a jazz dancer where she later met and married Charles Thomas. That union produced Dywane Eric and Sheila Maria. She also worked during those early years as a child care provider.

Tragedy struck the family when her mother, Lillie, suffered a massive stroke. Lillie was not expected to recover, but Ella alone nursed her back to health and Lillie lived another 11 years, well into her eighties. Also during that year of tragedy, her oldest son, Gene, was called to Vietnam. She stopped dancing professionally at that point, as a promise to God, if He (God) would bring her son back home alive from Vietnam.

She continued in life supporting and nurturing not only her family but others who sought her help and advice. She lost her husband to cancer in 1999, but remained the strong support for the family. She lost her first grandchild Gerald DeMarco, Gene’s son, in 2011. Earlier this year, her oldest son, Gene, succumbed to the effects of agent orange and passed away. She never recovered from that sadness, and it was then that her health declined rapidly. She succumbed to her illnesses on October 8, 2017.

She leaves behind a son, Dywane, daughter, Sheila, grandchildren, Ericka, Christy, Dywane Jr. and Jonathan, all of Memphis, TN and Julia and Jason of Bologna, Italy, great grandchildren, cousins, play son David Dotson of Dallas, TX, and a host of friends.