Mary Ellison, 80, longtime teacher who helped prisoners with their GEDs
She wrote musical dramas for churches at Christmas and Easter
MARY ELLISON capped a long public school teaching career by helping prisoners who wanted to better themselves.
After retiring from teaching at the age of 63, Mary went to the State Correctional Institution in Chester to help inmates who wanted to earn their GEDs.
"She got a lot of satisfaction from that," said her niece, Margo Venable. "She liked helping the inmates who wanted to continue their education."
Mary Ellison, longtime public school teacher in Delaware County, an active churchwoman and devoted family matriarch, died July 21 of a blood disorder after a brief illness. She was 80 and lived in Wynnefield.
Since her death, her family has been going through her memorabilia, and were surprised to find a photo of her with Johnnie Cochran, the famed lawyer who successfully defended O.J. Simpson in the sensational 1995 murder trial.
What was she doing with Cochran? Mary was vague about it, and the family didn't get a satisfactory answer.
Another photo shows her with her longtime friend, Wilt Chamberlain's sister, Barbara O. Lewis. No mystery there.
The family is wondering what they'll turn up next.
Mary was a woman of many interests and talents. For several years she created scripts, made costumes and developed music and dances for plays at Christmas and Easter for her churches.
She also taught Bible school and arts and crafts to young people at those churches, 59th Street Baptist in West Philadelphia and Bright Hope Baptist in North Philadelphia.
Mary was also famed among family and friends for her fashion sense. She enjoyed shopping for clothes and accessories, which she wore with flair and style. She even had a fur coat that was dyed green.
She was a devoted traveler who enjoyed cruises, and, in her youth, visited England and China on a scholarship from the Heinz Endowments.
Mary's curiosity about her family history led her to discover her great-great-grandmother, Laura Sharpe Jenkins, a slave who was 12 when slavery ended with the Emancipation Proclamation.
Mary was born Mary Daniels in Philadelphia to William Marvin Daniels, a Philadelphia police officer, and Daisy Jackson Daniels, a beautician and Head Start teacher at Green Grove Baptist Church in Berlin, N.J.
The family lived in Eastwick in Southwest Philadelphia, and Berlin, N.J. She graduated from Simon Gratz High School and went on to Beaver College, now Arcadia University, in Glenside. She received a bachelor's degree and later a master's in education.
Mary's first job was in administration at the University of Pennsylvania. Then, she went to Delaware County, where she taught at several schools, including Academy Park and Darby High Schools.
In 1954, she married James Edward Clarkson Jr. The marriage ended in divorce and she married Eugene Ellison in 1960. That marriage also ended in divorce.
Mary retired from full-time teaching at 63, and started teaching prisoners at the correctional institution in Chester. She taught prisoners who were working on their GEDs.
"She enjoyed her family and friends, to whom she often lent an interested ear, offering words of encouragement and support," her family said. "And she loved entertaining at her Wynnefield home, where she lived for more than 40 years.
She is survived by a sister, Marie Morris Washington; four grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren, and her companion, Robert "Tot" Johnson. She was predeceased by her son, James Edward "Skip" Clarkson III.
Services: 11 a.m. today at Greater Mount Carmel Church of God in Christ, 250 Chestnut Ave., West Berlin, N.J. Friends may call at 9 a.m. Burial will be in East Berlin Cemetery.