Obit of Grogans, Ella B (g625) - Unknown County, Oklahoma Submitted by: Gene Phillips 18 Aug 2004 Return to Unknown County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/okstate.html ========================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ========================================================================== GROGANS, NAACP LEADER, SR ACTIVIST Published on September 18, 1998 The Santa Rosa Press Democratt Ella B. Grogans, a longtime leader in Sonoma County's African American community and former president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, died Sept. 6 in a Santa Rosa hospital following a long illness. She was 69. Grogans, who suffered a series of strokes, had been in failing health for the past three years. The Santa Rosa great-grandmother spent her life working to make things better for her own family and others in the black community. Her community service was sandwiched between running the family household and working on an assembly line at Hewlett-Packard. She also worked at Sonoma County People for Economic Opportunity. "She was an activist for as long as I can remember. She really tried to help poor black families here. When I was in school, kids would tell me how my mom had helped their families," said daughter Denise Grogans of Santa Rosa. Denise Grogans described her mother as strong and independent, a woman who gathered and distributed food for the poor but wouldn't take it herself. She sewed clothes for all of her six children, and with her late husband, John Grogans, grew much of the family's food on a small farm in Santa Rosa. "We were poor but didn't know it because we always had food that my father grew and nice clothes that my mother made," said Denise Grogans. Born in Oklahoma, Grogans moved to Oakland with her family in 1942. She lived in Oakland for many years and relocated to Santa Rosa in 1955 with her husband and children. Grogans worked within the system to improve conditions for the poor and disenfranchised. She was a member of the Local Action Council that secured a grant to establish the Multi-Cultural Center in Santa Rosa. She joined other community leaders in founding Santa Rosa's Martin Luther King Celebration, held on the civil right's leader's birthday in January. Grogans served as the NAACP's president in 1980. She was past president and a member of the Black Business and Professional Women's Club. In addition to her daughter, Grogans is survived by another daughter, Deborah Grogans Cali of Cotati; sons, Percy and Edward Grogans, both of Santa Rosa; her mother, Juanita Willis of Santa Rosa; a sister, Jerlin White of Santa Rosa; eight grandchildren; and 3 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by two daughters. A memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Sept. 26 at the Santa Rosa Memorial Park Chapel. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to Unknown County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/okstate.html