{"id":19602,"date":"2021-06-24T17:43:26","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T17:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theoklahomaeagle.net\/?p=19602"},"modified":"2021-06-24T17:43:26","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T17:43:26","slug":"ella-d-johnson-transition-to-glory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/2021\/06\/24\/ella-d-johnson-transition-to-glory\/","title":{"rendered":"Ella D. Johnson Transitions To Glory"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Oklahoma Eagle Newswire
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cFor a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness, For the Lord God is a sun and shield.\u00a0 The Lord will give grace and glory: No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts. Blessed is the one who trusts in you\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

Psalm 84:10-12 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ella\u2019s Story<\/strong>
\n\u201c A Life Well Lived \u201c <\/em><\/strong>
\nElla was born August 24, 1936 in Haynes, Oklahoma to O.D and Ruby Ponds.\u00a0 She was the fifth of six children.\u00a0 After the untimely deaths of her parents, she and her siblings were taken in and raised by their Uncle and Aunt, Earnest \u201cBubba\u201d Washington and Velma \u201cBig Mama\u201d Washington (Wallace) She spent her formative years attending Carter G. Woodson school until age 16.\u00a0 For a better life, Bubba moved the family to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1952 where Ella finished her high school years at Booker T. Washington High School.
\nThe Early Years<\/em><\/strong>
\nShe accepted Christ on Christmas Eve in 1953 at St. Andrew Missionary Baptist Church on Marshall Street, under the leadership of Pastor M.V. \u201c Dad \u201c Ferguson. There, her passion to serve was ignited. She served faithfully at St. Andrew in many capacities for close to 70 years. Her most notable areas of service were the Culinary Arts Ministry where she was known for making her famous tea and the Usher ministry, ensuring everyone entered worship respectfully.\u00a0 She was adamant about keeping order in the Lord\u2019s house.\u00a0 She was well respected for her firm but fair demeanor.\u00a0 A few years ago, she was appointed to the Mother\u2019s Board by the late Dr. Bertrand M. Bailey Sr.
\nAfter a brief tenure at Langston University, Ella returned home and married Willie Johnson.\u00a0 To this union, four sons were born: Philip, Victor, Michael and Tony. \u00a0This marriage was later dissolved, and she continued to work extremely hard to raise her sons.
\nHer Career<\/em><\/strong>
\nElla was an extremely hard worker and was fully committed to everything she put her heart and hands to do. \u00a0During her early years, she worked at St. John Hospital and later began working at Bovaird Oil Supply Company cleaning offices with her best friends Leola Anderson and Margaret Robinson. \u00a0They were loyal workers and were known for working with integrity.
\nIn 1970, Ella discovered a strong passion to serve children in her neighborhood, so she began volunteering at Walt Whitman Elementary School.\u00a0\u00a0 Her commitment to volunteer landed her a permanent position offered by Principal Dorothy DeWitty.\u00a0 She served at Whitman in many capacities.\u00a0 She worked as a Teacher\u2019s Assistant, Librarian, School Nurse and wherever else she was needed. \u00a0She was notorious for making popcorn on Fridays that students and staff enjoyed tremendously. \u00a0\u00a0After 37 years of dedicated service, she retired!\u00a0 However, her passion to serve wouldn\u2019t let her stay away. Thus, she returned as a volunteer at Whitman and McLain High School until her health began to fail.
\nElla was a fighter! She survived several bouts with cancer and other illnesses.\u00a0 She attributed her long life to Christ continuously having his hand on her life and healing her.
\nShe enjoyed watching basketball, helping young people, traveling, and spending time with her family.
\nIn her 84th<\/sup> season of life, Ella peacefully transitioned from time and entered eternity.\u00a0 Awaiting her arrival were her parents; O.D and Ruby Ponds, Aunt Velma Washington, Uncle Earnest Washington, brothers; O.D \u201cBo\u201d Ponds, Q.D. Ponds, one son; Michael Johnson and Ex-husband, Willie R. Johnson.
\nLeft to cherish her memory and continue her legacy, her sons: Philip (Linda), Victor, Tony (Tracey), daughter in law; Linda (Mike)
\nSiblings:\u00a0 Delores \u201cKatie\u201d Gay, Perry Ponds (Mildred), Ernestine Ford, ; sisters in law ; Frances Ponds & Cleatha Ponds.
\nHer grandchildren; DaWanda, Dominick, Devan, Marlon, Michael Jr., Micala, Victoria, Jamaal, Victor Jr., Jasmine, Maya, Miles, Alyssa, Zoey, Zier.
\nA host of great grandchildren, three great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, family, and friends.
\n 
\n 
\n 
\n 
\n 
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Oklahoma Eagle Newswire \u201cFor a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness, For the Lord God is a sun and shield.\u00a0 The Lord will give grace and glory: No good thing will…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19603,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[108,116,103,109],"tags":[],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-19602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-faith","category-featured","category-obituary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19602"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.willoughbyavenue.com\/eagle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thb-sponsors?post=19602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}