Shirley Ellison

Shirley Ellison was born in New York, NY on August 12, 1946, one of 9 children of Elbert and Marie Ellison. (She loved that she and Dolly Parton shared the same birth year). She grew up in different parts of New York and Pennsylvania and left her home when she was 15 and eventually found her way to Bryan College in TN, a small liberal arts Christian college, and worked as a nurse as she finished a degree in Education. Her love for children drove her to find work in children’s homes in N. Carolina and Florida finally came to Georgia in the mid-70s to work at the United Methodist Children’s home in Decatur. There she met an adorable 4 year old who was an emergency foster placement. A few years later Justin became her son.

Shirely and Justin made it a point to always attend church and one year when Christmas fell on a Sunday, the church they were attending decided not to have services that day so they looked for a near-by church that did and they found First Alliance Church. Since then First Alliance has been their home church. Shirely immediately volunteered for nursery duty and many children got to experience her love and care. Shirely was also involved in the missions team and as her health deteriorated and she became wheelchair bound, she was a greeter in the foyer before the Sunday services, welcoming everyone who entered with her gracious smile.

As we say goodbye to Shirely, we do so with gratitude for the gift of their life. Her love for Jesus and her love for children, especially for Justin, will be remembered for a long, long time.

In lieu of flowers, Shirley has asked that donations be made to Trinity Children’s Center (The Trinity Children’s Center, Inc. was developed to establish hope and love to the children of Liberia.) To make a donation: www.trinitychildren.org or send to P.O. Box 1252, Lawrenceville, GA 30046

A celebration of life will be held on Friday, June 27^th at 6pm at First Alliance Church, 2512 N. Druid Hills Road, Atlanta, GA where friends and family are invited to gather in remembrance. A reception will be held following the service.