Ella Mae Clover

Once upon a time there was a little girl who all she wanted to be was a wife and mother. Ella Mae (Henry) Clover was born on October 4, 1943 to Clifford and Hettie (Crum) Henry, the youngest of three daughters. Ellie, as she was known by everyone, attended Mohawk High School in Bessemer, PA where she met Keith Boyd Clover. They married on September 7, 1963. As many young couples, they first lived with Keith’s parents and then bought a trailer and lived on her family's farm for the next nine years. When the trailer became too crowded, they moved their growing family to thirty acres in Mercer County, PA where Ellie spent the rest of her life. She often joked about having two families, Douglas and Gloria, born in the 60s and then Laura and Christopher born in the 70s. She was a great mother, firm and loving, disciplined and playful. She taught her children to work first and play when time allowed. She served her family quietly, joyfully, and consistently. For twenty years she cared for goats, calves, pigs, ponies, and chickens on the small farm. She taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School at the Hendersonville United Methodist Church. She cleaned and kissed boo boos, carried firewood, and prepared meals. She lived her dream in the reality of daily life. When the steel mills closed in the early 80s, she left the comfort of her home to earn income as a substitute rural mail carrier — delivering in rain, snow, sleet, or shine, not for pleasure or achievement, but for the benefit of her family. When Keith was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 1991, with the third child just graduated and the 4th still in high school, Ellie purposely placed all her cares on her Lord Jesus Christ and remained solid during the two year battle. After Keith’s death, she became a full time rural route carrier for the Sandy Lake Post Office. She worked there until health reasons forced her to retire in 2014, just shy of her twenty year goal. After her nest emptied in 1998 when Gloria married and Christopher graduated college, Ellie began to travel the United States of America and the world. She traveled with family to Egypt, Spain, and Ireland. She traveled the length of the east coast, mid west, and Rocky Mountains with a group of friends. One of her last trips was the long awaited tour of Australia and New Zealand. Thanksgiving was her holiday, the time to gather the entire family into her home and feed them continually. On Christmas Day, her children all attended gatherings at their respective in-laws so she developed Clover Christmas, another weekend in December to get together, when she would assume the role of devoted mother she always had been. As the family swelled to include six grandchildren, she expanded those nurturing skills, showering them with love. Once upon a time, there was a little girl who all she wanted to be was a wife and mother. She got it all, and left a family legacy of which she was proud. On March 7, 2020, after her own three year battle against colon cancer, Ella Mae Clover entered her happily-ever-after. She is grieved with hope for the coming resurrection by her two sisters, Rebecca (Spike) Williams and Kathleen (Paul) McConnell, two sisters in law, Bonni Rheinhart and Avinell (Randy) Orris, her four children Douglas, Gloria, Laura, and Christopher, their spouses, Ynhi (Tran) Clover, Scott Peterman, Chris Fry, and Katherine (Flanagan) Clover, her six grandchildren, Emerson Fry, Natalie Fry, Arden Fry, Keegan Clover, Alexander Peterman, and Riley Clover, her nieces and nephews, her brothers and sisters in Christ from Emmanuel Christian Church, and her friends and extended family. She is met in glory by her parents, her beloved husband, other members of her extended family, and the forever faithful Lord Jesus Christ. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Black Funeral Home of Sandy Lake, 3236 S. Main Street, where family and friends are welcome from 4-7 pm on Wednesday, March 11. A funeral service will take place at the funeral home on Thursday, March 12, at 11 am with the Pastor Tim Clark, pastor of Emmanuel Christian Church, officiating. Interment will follow in Hendersonville Cemetery. Online condolences and flowers may be sent to the family by visiting www.BlackFuneralHomes.net.

Visitation
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
4:00 - 7:00pm (Eastern time)
Rose and Black Funeral Home
3236 S Main St, Sandy Lake, PA 16145

Service
Thursday, March 12, 2020
11:00am - 12:00pm (Eastern time)
Rose and Black Funeral Home
3236 S Main St, Sandy Lake, PA 16145

Cemetery

Hendersonville Cemetery
Bradley Road, Stoneboro , PA 16153

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