VALDOSTA — Ella Blue celebrated her 103rd birthday June 7.
Ella Scriven was born June 7, 1921, in Nassau County, Florida, to Paul and Annie Johnson Scriven. She is the oldest of five children.
She has one surviving sibling, Sally Scriven of Tampa, Florida.
Her parents joined the Great Migration of the 1920s but moved no farther north than Thomasville, where Ella grew up being raised by her grandparents. She completed high school at Albany Industrial High School. It was common in those days to find it necessary to attend high school in a larger city, the family said.
After graduation, she became a private sitter/nurse to pregnant women. Eventually, she relocated to Valdosta and landed her dream job, working in the natal unit of Little Griffin Hospital.
She remained in the maternity ward nurturing babies and advising mothers until her retirement from South Georgia Medical Center almost five decades later.
After her official retirement, she continued to provide a much-needed service to working parents, Ella’s Day Care.
“She offered peace of mind, affordability, flexible hours and tons of love to babies and small children,” according to the family. “She bonded with hundreds of children and grateful parents who will never forget her. It was only a few years ago she decided that running after 2-year-olds was a bit too much for her. Her services were greatly missed.”
She married Luther Blue in 1954; a son, Luther Jr., was born.
“As fate would have it, the couple had met at a football game,” according to the family statement. “No wonder Luther Jr. would grow up to become a part of the famous Valdosta Wildcats football team.
He was recruited out of Iowa State by the NFL, playing for the Detroit Lions for four years.
He also played in the Canadian Football League for a year. Injuries ended a promising career. Luther currently resides in Bloomfield, Michigan with his family. He makes frequent trips to Valdosta to spend extended time with his mother.”
She is blessed with three beloved step-children, Mattie Hill (deceased) and John Poe, both of Detroit, Michigan, and Dorothy Hope of Valdosta.
She is also blessed with numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren — too many to list, the family said.
God is first in Ella Scriven Blue’s life, her family said. She attributes her capacity from choir member to kitchen sweeper.
She has slowed down a bit, the family said, but people can still see her watering her well-cared-for plants.
She was blessed with a “green thumb.” Or she can be found patiently waiting for someone to fill a pot with soil so she can plant and watch a new variety of some plant.
“Ella Mae Blue is strong,” the family said. “Like the proverbial oak, her roots run deep. She is grounded in courage. She is rooted in faith. She can be shaken, but she cannot be blown away. She is here. She is now. She is a living, lively testimony to the grace and goodness of God.
“Thanks to God for an example of a life well-lived,” they said.