Ella Bell Heath

Ella Bell Heath passed away on August 28 2024, at the age of 101 & 7 months. She was born on January 17, 1923, in Swisher County Texas to Bertha & Fred Spann. She grew up on a small farm near Kress TX with her sisters, Dorothy, Addie, Johnnie & Betty. Growing up on a farm in North Texas in the 20’s - 40’s was not an easy life & for many years they did not have many of the modern conveniences we take for granted today. Ella being the oldest of the 5 girls, she had the responsibility of many chores around the farm before and after school. Ella attended school in Kress, Texas and rode a horse to school name Ole Ball. She enjoyed all subjects but found she was very good with numbers. She played basketball & was admired in her SR yearbook for her smile and friendliness to everyone. She showed her grit and determination at a very early age. After High School, she moved into a nearby town & she went to work in a general store. She later moved to Plainview and then on to Amarillo where she worked at the Air Force base at the bank / commissary.

In 1947, She got an opportunity to attend Rita LaRoy’s Modeling Agency in Los Angeles, CA. So, at age 24, Ella packed all her belongings in a trunk & got on a train to California where she lived in a rooming house with kitchen privileges. She modeled at Tea rooms and wholesale shops during the daytime and worked nights at the bank “running that IBM machine” checking receipts & putting it in the ledger. While in California, a friend from the bank, set up Ella on a blind date with a man also from Texas, Cullen (Cap) Heath. Cap quickly fell in love with Ella. When he found out he was being transferred back to Texas he asked her to marry him. Ella, however, stayed in California for a few months to complete her contract obligations with the modeling agency. But as soon as those were over, she moved back to Texas. They were married in Amarillo on 11/5/1949.

Over the next 20+ years Cap and Ella moved all over Texas and the western US, due to Cap’s job with GSI, a cable/seismic company. Families that worked for GSI were called “Doodlebuggers” as they moved every 3-6 months finding oil and gas prospects. Cap and Ella lived in multiple states during this time all while living in their 8’x32’ trailer. Many of the families that they traveled with became lifelong family friends. The GSI company gatherings were like family reunions. Cap and Ella had 2 girls during their doodlebug years: Beverly, born in 1952 in Worland, Wyoming, and Brenda, born in 1961 in Ft. Stockton, Texas. In 1963 they moved to Midland where Cap became district manager for GSI. They lived and raised their family in Midland from that point on. Ella was known as the CEO of the family, and she ran a tight ship. Nothing and I mean nothing went to waste, not food, not foil, not cooking grease, not anything in the house! If it could be used, reused, or repurposed it was. Ella was the pro at making just about anything out of nothing. She was also an excellent seamstress and made the majority of the girl’s clothes as well as curtains, decorative pillows, costumes, hot-pads, etc. You name it she would make it.

Ella learned to play golf in her 40’s. She won many tournaments and played in all the city of Midland and Permian Basin tournaments from the late 1960’s to the mid-1980s. She was known for her outstanding skills with her putter, winning several awards for the most number of 1 putts within a year. She was a member of Hogan’s Park Women’s Golf and the Ranchland Hills Women’s Golf organizations. Later in her life, on family golf outings she would ride in the cart and still take swings and hit a few golf balls well into her late 90’s. She would say “I can’t get around like I used to, but I still like to hit that ball.”

Ella was also a very accomplished bowler. She won several awards and even traveled to a state tournament in San Antonio in the late 1960’s.

Cap and Ella joined the Midland Gem & Mineral club in the early 70’s and became very involved in Rock Hunting & Cabochon Jewelry Making. They traveled for 10+ years to several Gem & Mineral shows selling jewelry they made.

Ella was a talented artist. She preferred oil painting to charcoal or watercolors but she tried her hand at all mediums. She took art classes at Midland College and joined the Paint & Pallet Club of Midland. During the 1970’s to early 2000’s, the family estimates she completed 50+ paintings with many given as gifts to friends and family. She did China painting and ceramics as well, and several of these treasures are all over her house still today.

Ella loved to travel and continued traveling well into her 90’s. She took multiple cruises with her sisters Addie and Johnnie and went on many Crestview church trips throughout the years. Ella was always game for an adventure.

Music and Dancing was something Ella loved. She was always playing music and dancing with the girls in the kitchen. In her early 90’s she decided to formally learn Ballroom dancing. She was invited to join the ballroom team at a dance competition in Las Vegas in 2014, entering under the Beginners over 75 division & placing 1st in that division. She went the next year to Florida with the Midland Ballroom dance group & placed 1st in her division. She continued to take lessons and attended their in-house recitals until the Dance company closed in 2018. In addition to ballroom dancing, Ella was a founding member of the West Texas Dance Club / Permian Basin Dance Club (active since ~2010). She was attending weekly dances and still dancing just days before her death at age 101.

Ella was a member of Crestview Baptist church since 1963. Her faith was a strong foundation in her life, and she was adamant about her girls being involved in church as well. It was very important to her to stay connected to a church family and to be involved. She would tell people all the time how blessed she was. She said her life was never easy, but she strongly believed that GOD was a part of her life in every way. Just one day at a time was kind of her moto. She was often heard saying: “Just one day at a time, you keep moving you don’t give up and you don’t give in, just keep moving”!

Ella is preceded in death by her husband Cullen C Heath; Daughter Beverly A Heath; Father Fredrick C Spann; Mother Bertha P (Spann) McGaugh; sister Dorothy Mae Yarbrough: half-sisters Jimme Vae McGaugh, Addie Lee Hostetler & great-granddaughter Elizabeth Duncan.

She is survived by daughter Brenda Bromley & husband Kyle; sisters Johnnie Fae Norrell; Betty Joe White; grandchildren: Renae Bromley, Heath Bromley & wife Catherine; Christopher Duncan & wife Emmi; Matthew Duncan & wife Laura; great granddaughters Kimberly Duncan & Alyssa Duncan, as well as several nieces & nephews.

Please remember to take it one day at a time; to treasure all the wonderful moments GOD gives you. Count your many blessings; temper your difficulties with an attitude of gratitude & when you get a chance DANCE!

The family will receive friends for visitation from 4-7 PM at Ellis Funeral Home on Tuesday, September 17, 2024. Funeral services will be held at Crestview Baptist Church at 11 AM on Wednesday, September 18, 2024. Graveside services will follow at 3 PM at Resthaven Memorial Park.