Ella Mae Hollett Bullock Haynes passed from this life, on Aug. 18, 2023.
The daughter of a fisherman and a seamstress, she was the oldest of five siblings and was born at home, in Lewin’s Cove, Newfoundland, on Dec. 29, 1936.
Graduating from high school at age 15, Ella Mae moved to St. Lawrence, Newfoundland, to work and at 17 married U.S. Navy Sea Bee Marvin Fred Bullock, who was from Algood, Tennessee. Widowed at age 24, with two young children, Ella, determined to raise her children in the USA, went to work at Powers TV & Appliance Mart, in Cookeville, and from there to a career in banking, beginning at the First National Bank on the square, in Cookeville, and ending at American Bank and Trust.
Ella married Donald Haynes on July 3, 1965, and their son, Eddy was born in 1967. Together, Ella and Don owned and operated Haynes Office Supply & Printing Company, in Cookeville, for many years before retiring early and spending more than 30 years traveling, sometimes by air to places that included Hawaii, Greece, and Italy, but most often in their motorhome, as far north as Newfoundland and as far south as Mexico, as well as countless adventures east and west and every winter in Florida.
Ella loved to dance, and a typical week included three nights of dancing. Weekends meant circling the garage sale ads in the Herald- Citizen and striking out on Saturday mornings for treasures, bumping into old friends and enjoying encounters with new acquaintances. She maintained her Canadian citizenship and love for Newfoundland but would often campaign for candidates in her adopted country, where she was so proud to have made a life for herself and family. Ella was a member of First Cumberland Presbyterian Church where she helped tend the flowers and loved gathering items for the annual ladies’ yard sale. She and Donald also volunteered for Cookeville Regional Medical Center for several years, delivering and setting up Life Lines in people’s homes.
She loved her children and raised them to have an appreciation for life, and family, and love and laughter. She loved her grandson, teaching him her childhood sport of ice skating and taking him for long stretches of his young summers traveling, enjoying camping life.
Ella loved her friends, too many to name or count. Her home was always open, and unplanned gatherings for dinners or visits with lots of laughter and appetizers on the deck were the norm. During the past several months, her circle of friends grew to include many dedicated caregivers whose hearts she touched with her sweet spirit and gracious manner and whose visits brightened her days. Her family will always be grateful for those relationships that grew from our support from Gentiva Hospice and Bailey Manor. Diana Nevins and Cindy West were very special friends that made it possible for Ella to remain at home for as long as possible.
Ella is predeceased by her mother and father, George and Helena Hollett, who had resided in Newfoundland.
Ella is survived by her husband of 58 years, retired Tennessee National Guard Major Donald E. Haynes; three children, Barbara Bullock Greeson (Jim); Marvin Bullock; Eddy Haynes (Diane); one grandson, Stephen Lee (Cynthia); one step-granddaughter, Claire Wyche (Jon); and three great-grandchildren; Caroline Lee, Andrew Lee, and Emma Wyche.
Service for Ella was 1 p.m., Aug. 22, 2023, from the chapel of Hooper-Huddleston & Horner Funeral Home, in Cookeville. The Rev. Christian Smith officiated. Entombment followed at Crest Lawn Cemetery.
Memorial donations can be made to the Parkinson’s Foundation at parkinson.org; to First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 565 E. Tenth St., Cookeville, TN 38501; or to a charity of your choice.
Hooper Huddleston & Horner Funeral Home, in Cookeville, was in charge of arrangements.
