Monday, November 25, 2013
Aunt Estella was eleven and mother was only three when their mother died Dec. 21, 1922. Estella was responsible for the household and taking care of her younger sister Evelyn and also the twins Verdie and Virgil who were nine years old. She was a beautiful lady and raised her large family alone after loosing her husband. This is an entry in mothers' diary dated August 1, 1939. "I got breakfast at 3:30 a.m. at 9:30 a.m. a little girl weighing 9 lbs. was born to Estella. Goldie and Mrs. Pyles & I were here Dr. Bard was the Dr." Mother drove up to Andersonville many times to visit with Estella until her health failed. She died January 30, 2013 leaving Estella as the only survivor of the Collins girls and boys and now we have lost her. Her father Joseph Uriah Collins b.10-15-1851 d.5-31-1964. Mother Florence Emma Ridenour b.5-9-1875 d.12-21-1922. Siblings Hugh Lewis Homer b.3-12-1894. Della Emma b. 5-4-1896 died young. Charles Hobert b.8-30-1897. William Gobel b.2-4-1901. Goldie Beatrice b.5-21-1903. Loucintha Gertrude b.8-27-1905. Lena Lois b.10-30-1908. Susan Verdie & James Virgil b.11-13-1913. Ocie Evelyn 4-11-1919. Estella also had a loving stepmother Martha E. Snodderly b.9-4-1890 d.1-9-1951.
