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Amazing Grace

Posted on December 1, 2016December 1, 2016 By Tom 10 Comments on Amazing Grace
Family, History and Genealogy, Local

2010 0930 26

This past Tuesday night my Aunt Grace Ellenberg passed away. She was 95. The older sister of my late mother, she led a long, amazing life of adventure that defied the expectations set for a young farm girl from Ninety Six, South Carolina. Grace was a teacher and world traveler, a complex person with a profound Christian faith coupled with a keen intellect and desire to learn.

Grace Ellenberg was born on May 28, 1921 in Ninety Six to William T. and Annie Smith Ellenberg. She was the seventh child out of eleven – three boys and six girls. Grace grew up on the farm, and excelled in school.

Ellenbergs
1944a Grace Ellenberg  c bag orig
1944a Grace Ellenberg closeup
The_Index_Journal_Sun__Apr_17__1938_

When she finished Ninety Six High School, Aunt Grace entered Holmes Bible College in 1938 with her brother Bill. It was here that Grace solidified her faith.

The_Index_Journal_Sun__Oct_9__1938_

The Greenville Index-Journal documented this, as well as other events in Grace’s life. Most of these were listed in the social news of the time. I guess this was the precursor to Facebook. These recorded when Grace entered Newberry College in 1944, living with now Rev. Bill Ellenberg in Whitmire and commuting to the college, where she studied French.

The_Index_Journal_Fri__Sep_19__1941_
The_Index_Journal_Sat__Jan_1__1944_
The_Index_Journal_Fri__Nov_5__1943_

When Aunt Grace finished college she began teaching at Ninety Six High School. She taught French, History, and Psychology. This was just post World War II, and Aunt Grace thought it would be good for her students to have pen pals with students in France. Aunt Grace pulled a name from the hat for herself.

Thus began a long-time correspondence with Ginette Vauthieu. Grace and Ginette wrote each other several letters each week. Sometime in the late 1940s, early 1950s Grace made her first trip abroad, traveling by cargo ship to meet Ginette.

Aunt Grace made many other trips abroad while teaching at Ninety Six. She traveled to Europe and to Mexico. During this time she also took graduate courses at Duke University, Middlebury College in Vermont, the University of Mexico, and at the Sorbonne in Paris. As such a well-traveled woman, she became something of a celebrity in Greenwood County. She gave regular talks to PTA and civic groups about her travels.

The_Index_Journal_Sat__Oct_18__1952_
The_Index_Journal_Tue__Mar_11__1952_
The_Index_Journal_Mon__Oct_13__1952_

This one article sums up the essence of Aunt Grace, where she combined a trip to Paris with a visit to the Pentecostal World Conference in London.

The_Index_Journal_Sat__May_31__1952_

She even wrote several of the articles herself. You can click on the images to make them larger.

The_Index_Journal_Sat__Aug_9__1952_
The_Index_Journal_Mon__Jul_21__1952_
The_Index_Journal_Fri__Feb_20__1953_

Aunt Grace had accumulated enough hours for a doctorate, but never completed a dissertation. By the late 1950s Grace moved to Europe, teaching first in Verden, Germany, then in Paris.

The_Index_Journal_Wed__Dec_2__1959_
The_Index_Journal_Tue__Sep_15__1959_

Grace’s long-time pen pal, Ginette, had married Pierre Vauthieu, and Grace lived with Pierre’s mother, Mami Vautieu. She actually taught French in France at the Paris American High School School run by the US Government.

The_Index_Journal_Fri__Jul_23__1965_

While in Paris Aunt Grace continued her travels. She visited the Middle East and was said to have climbed the Great Pyramid at a time when that was permitted. Grace didn’t want to be a tourist, but preferred to do what the locals did. She often traveled by herself.

In the mid 1960’s my cousin Phebe Price Roberson lived with Aunt Grace in Europe for a year. Phebe told me that they would pack Grace’s VW with camping equipment and travel as far as they could, including Switzerland, Italy, England, Spain, Morocco, Germany, and Belgium. As a government employee, Grace had PX privileges at army bases. She was frugal, and preferred to camp rather than spend money on hostels or hotels.

In 1967 President Charles du Gualle no longer wanted NATO headquarters in France, so Grace’s school was closed and the teachers reassigned. Grace taught in Heidelberg for a bit, then returned home sometime around 1970.

Aunt Grace moved to Greenville, North Carolina, where she began teaching French at Eastern Carolina University. She taught there for nineteen years until her retirement. Even after her retirement she continued to give talks, both on her travels and on religious topics, usually at Pentecostal Holiness churches.

The_Index_Journal_Fri__Jun_23__1995_
The_Index_Journal_Fri__Sep_28__2001_

Phebe provided this additional information:

Following her time abroad, Grace settled in Greenville, NC, where she taught French at East Carolina University for nineteen years before retiring. From her home on East Wright Road, she could often be seen walking the two miles to her university classroom. Even after her retirement, Grace continued to audit classes, including studies in Greek and history, where she sat with students sixty-plus years her junior. Five years ago, she moved to Cypress Glen. Until recently, she was in excellent health, and enjoyed travelling, walking, and gardening.

2004 Grace E at desk flash

I didn’t get to see my Aunt Grace very often, but she always struck me as a fascinating, yet very pious person. At an Ellenberg reunion she once mentioned that she would be speaking the next day at a local Pentecostal Holiness church. That would be a Sunday, so I erroneously said, “So, you’ll be preaching in the morning?”, to which she replied, “I am not permitted to preach.”

1995a Ellenberg siblings copy

Which brings up another point…Aunt Grace was very complex. She had very strict beliefs, yet she defied the norms set for women of her time. As Phebe said, “She submitted to God’s Will, but had a mind of her own.” She loved knowledge and study. Her best friends in Greenville were part of the Islamic community, in a time when the nation seems divided over Islamophobia.

Our last big gathering was for Grace’s 90th birthday, when as many of the Ellenberg clan as possible gathered for the celebration.

Aunt Grace 90th Birthday-16
Aunt Grace 90th Birthday-20

Grace is survived by her sister, Aunt Lou (Lois) Price, the last of the Ellenberg siblings, and by many nieces and nephews. In keeping with her unconventional nature, Grace didn’t want to have a funeral or memorial service. Instead, she donated her body to science. She said that if the cousins wanted to have a gathering later, that was fine, but we better not call it a memorial. She also said she didn’t want anything in print, so I guess she’s now going to come haunt me. And maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

So, goodbye, Aunt Grace. I hope that you find the next stage of the adventure as exciting as the amazing long life you have already lived. You have been an inspiration to all of us.

2010 0930 26

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10 thoughts on “Amazing Grace”

  1. Marc says:
    December 1, 2016 at 9:34 pm

    Nice tribute Tom.

    Reply
  2. Edward Burton says:
    December 1, 2016 at 9:51 pm

    Very kind and first class Tom! You are the best.

    Edward Burton

    Reply
  3. Susan Putnam says:
    December 1, 2016 at 10:33 pm

    Thank you, Tom. What a great article. Aunt really was quite an amazing lady.

    Reply
  4. Michele Ellenberg Brookd says:
    December 1, 2016 at 11:20 pm

    Such a beautiful tribute to an amazing lady. Thanks

    Reply
  5. Donna says:
    December 2, 2016 at 10:06 am

    Lovely tribute, lovely lady. Not many like her left. God bless her and those who miss her.

    Reply
  6. Joelle BRAL says:
    February 8, 2017 at 10:25 am

    Thank you for this excellent description of Grace and the old pictures . I am Ginette’s daughter , her french pen friend and l have loved Grace like my own mother ! She last visited her french family at 90 years old and was willing to come back and we telephoned to each other every week
    How much we miss her ! Love from France to all her family .
    Joelle Vauthieu -Bral

    Reply
  7. Joanne Christopher says:
    December 8, 2019 at 12:13 pm

    What a wonderful tribute. I am not even sure how I found this. She was my French teacher at Paris American High School in 1962-63 and was a wonderful teacher. I found her in the late 90s and we corresponded for a while. I will never forget her. I will share this information with some other alums.

    Reply
  8. Joseph Chamberlain says:
    January 13, 2020 at 1:25 pm

    She was my teacher in Paris from 1964 to 1966. She was a fearsome teacher, but a great one. I have never forgotten her or the positive impact she had on my life. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  9. Faye Pepper says:
    January 13, 2020 at 4:11 pm

    Thank you for sharing this with us. I, too, had her for my teacher in Paris. We corresponded some in the 80s. Still have her cards! Another thing that made her special to me was that she knew my dad’s family!! They were the Ridlehoovers. In fact, imagine my surprise when I was telling my dad who my teachers were and he said he knew Grace. We had her over for dinner several times over the years while we were in Paris. I’ve often wondered how she was doing, and I had thought of going to see her. While sad to know that she is gone, I am happy to see what a wonderful life she lived.

    Reply
  10. Ray Ward, Jr. says:
    February 28, 2022 at 12:13 pm

    Hi Tom,
    Fantastic coverage! Thank you. She and my dad were first cousins.
    For some reason, unknown to me, I always addressed her as Aunt Grace.
    She called me her nephew, Ray. We both knew our connection.
    How lucky to have such a great teacher of French and American History.
    Let’s stay in touch, I’d look forward to knowing more about this part of
    my family.
    Ray Ward

    Reply

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