Ouachita County Louisiana Archives Obituaries.....WEBB, ELLEN MARY BROWNE November 9, 2015 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Gina Brown rootsgirl36@gmail.com December 12, 2015, 8:56 am News Star World - November 13, 2015 ELLEN MARY BROWNE WEBB Born in New Orleans, La to John Francis Browne and Katherine Amato Browne, Ellen was the third child. She had two brothers, John Joseph Browne and Dominic Francis Browne, both deceased. Shortly after birth John Browne and family moved to Monroe, La where Mr. Browne worked for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. Mr. Browne bought the family a house at 503 Hart street, which was Ellen's home until she married Clyde Webb in 1955. Ellen attended Saint Matthews Catholic School from first grade through graduation as valedictorian. She sang in the choir as lead alto and established several lifelong friendships. After high school Ellen attended NJC (Northeast Junior College) for two years studying secretarial sciences. She met Clyde for the first time while she was dating one of his friends. Her first job was with GMAC in the Ouachita National Bank Building. She later went to work for City Manager Jim Williams, where she was also secretary for the Monroe Jaycees, where she met most of the young men in Monroe. In 1951 she had her first date with Clyde, who was home on leave from the Coast Guard, and they continued their relationship. Ellen and Clyde's friend Joe Coats kept him up to date on their favorite comic strip "Pogo-Possum" while Clyde served that year in the Philippines. Ellen had no shortage of dates while she was working for the City Manager—she attended all the Jaycee functions and was popular among the Jaycees. In October of 1953, when Clyde returned to Monroe, they began dating again and they went steady through all of 1954. In December of 1954, Clyde told Ellen he had been accepted to enroll in the architecture school at the University of Texas in Austin starting in January. Clyde offered her a "backhand" proposal when he told her he loved her and wanted to marry her, but he had no money, no job, and would spend the next five years in school. To Clyde's joy and wonder she accepted the proposal. They set the date for September when Clyde would finish the summer session. Ellen continued to work for Jim Williams at the Monroe Chamber of Commerce. Clyde came to Monroe when he could, and Ellen went to Austin when she could. Somehow the time passed. They were married in St. Matthew Catholic Church on September 10, 1955, attended a short reception, and jumped into Clyde's '53 Ford sedan pulling a small U-Haul with all of their worldly possessions, headed for Austin. They moved into the apartment Clyde had rented, set up the only furniture they had, which was the bedroom furniture, and spent their first night in Austin. The next day, armed with $600.00 in Ellen's bank account, they left for their honeymoon to Monterrey, Mexico. Upon their return to Austin, having spent $246 of their entire fortune in Mexico, Ellen called the Austin City manager upon recommendation from her former boss Jim Williams. On Tuesday Clyde dropped Ellen off at the City Hall. He returned in an hour and had learned that she had been hired as Mayor Tom Miller's secretary. The mayor had heard such high praise of Ellen that he had suspicions—but it was all true. Ellen worked for the mayor for the next eleven months before retiring to start her family. Ellen and Clyde lived in Austin for the next seven years, where their two sons, Greg and Mike, were born in 1956 and 1958. They got by on Ellen's savings, Clyde's GI Bill money, and Clyde's part time work while in school. In March of 1962 Clyde received a call from Jack Neel and Roy Johns offering him a job in Monroe. They had just signed the contract for the architectural work for the Civic Center. Ellen and Clyde moved back to Monroe and renewed old friendships and developed new ones. They rented a house for a few months and in August bought a small house at 2023 Valencia where they lived for the next 32 years. Ellen was a stay-at-home mom, taking care of the boys and establishing a home. She was expecting her third child at the end of December, but, following a routine doctor visit, she surprised everyone by delivering a new baby girl at home all by herself while Clyde was on the phone to the doctor. Mary Melissa (Missy) joined the household. Ellen, who was an accomplished seamstress, was delighted to have a baby girl for which to sew. Ellen sewed all her own clothes, but the boys required more patching than making. Unfortunately Missy seemed to like cowboy shirts and blue jeans more than smocked dresses, so Ellen turned to cooking for her next hobby. Ellen was a gracious hostess. She gave many dinner parties and became a talented Chinese food cook and mastered many of the best Chinese dishes. Through her many trips with Clyde to New York's Chinatown, Ellen amassed a large collection of Chinese cookbooks and dishware and gave elaborate Asian dinner parties, complete with chopstick lessons. As the children grew older, Ellen wanted to return to work outside the home. By this time the architecture firm was moving into early computer systems. The firm bought a linear display writer for writing specifications, and Ellen went to the office at night and learned how to use the machine. In the meantime, she was working for a local oil and gas law firm. Investors' distribution checks took several weeks to be calculated on adding machines and recorded longhand. Ellen researched and found an IBM machine with a keyboard and screen, including a calculator. After persuading her employer to buy it, she learned how to use it and processed the next distribution in only seven days. Her computer savvy was just beginning. By 1978, Clyde's architectural work required him to travel extensively, particularly Little Rock and New York City. Ellen traveled all over the country with him to the Dillard's stores mall openings, and became good friends with Mrs. Dillard. Clyde's architectural firm expanded into the Dallas market, so Ellen seized this opportunity to extend her education in the growing computer/word processor field. She formed I.L.S. (Independent Legal Secretaries) with two other partners, and they did temp work only for top executive assistants in law firms. Ellen ended up working for several of the largest law firms in Dallas. Ellen later called upon her experience in Monroe and joined with a computer salesman to sell and support a training program for office staff. She often knew more than the office manager, which sometimes caused problems. For the next eighteen years Ellen worked for firms all over Dallas, spending time in both Dallas and Monroe. For the first couple of years she was making good money but Clyde was paying the taxes. He suggested that maybe she would like to pay the taxes. Ellen used her business savvy to solve this problem and decided to form a corporation called Ellen Webb, Inc. Her board members were her children, and she quickly learned to write off her expenses and hold three or four board meetings per year. Needless to say, she ended up with no profit and no taxes. In 1997 Ellen and Clyde bought their dream home on Phillips Bayou in Monroe, where she finally had her kitchen sink window looking out on the street, something she had always wanted. Ellen and Clyde loved to travel, and they certainly did their share. The empty- nesters traveled every year—London, France, Italy, China. Their dear sailing friends from Chicago invited them and their children on a sailing trip to the British Virgin Islands to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. They also traveled with them to Turkey, stopping in Paris and Istanbul before their week of sailing. Ellen and Clyde were blessed with a full, active life. They were able to maintain their family unit despite sometimes living apart due to Clyde's 40- year travel schedule. For the past fifteen years their three children, spouses, and seven grandchildren, and countless friends have met at "Club Webb" (their current residence on the bayou) many times a year to gather and celebrate the family. Ellen's legacies, memories, and recipes will live on in her family's and friends' lives. Ellen is survived by her devoted husband of 60 years Clyde "Sonny" Webb, children Greg Webb, Mike Webb, and Missy Webb Marshall, and daughters-in-law Terry Webb and Robin Webb. Her beloved grandchildren are David and Katherine Webb, Morgan Webb, Mary Evelyn Webb, Mitchell and Matthew Webb, and Sarah and Scott Marshall. A private family service will be held from 3-4:00 on Saturday, November 14, followed by a celebration of her life for her extended family of friends at the Bayou DeSiard Country Club from 4:00-7:00pm. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Huntington's Disease Society of America at hdsa.org donations. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.kilpatrickfuneralhomes.com. Kilpatrick Funeral Home Monroe, LA File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/ouachita/obits/w/webb4671nob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/lafiles/ File size: 9.4 Kb