My Sister Ola Bell - 1915-2000

Ola was was born on May 12, 1915 and was 13 years old when I was born, the age that girls began to think of getting married back then. From the point that I was old enough to retain memories, I remember her very well. For a while I thought that I had two mothers. I imagine that mother gave Ola the job to take care of me so she could do all of the work that she had to do. Pictured Ola with Mother and Ola and her husband Collis shortly after they were married.

I remember Ola as someone that always worked hard; she did her best to stay in school and graduate. Ola had a best friend in school, Nancy Goodman, the two did everything together. They were two of the best players on the basketball team at Cool Spring High School. They remained friends through life. Ola was the first person in our family to complete high school and was the only person in my family that encouraged me to finish high school which I did. See diploma at the end of this post.

I do not remember going to visit Ola when I was very young after she moved from home. However, she would come up to visit us quiet often and would always bring me something. One time when I was around eight or nine, she gave Mark and me a bicycle for Christmas. I remember it being one of the nicest bikes I had ever seen; it had big tires, headlight, horn, and luggage rack. We rode it everywhere we went, when you would see that bike you saw us two on it. It took couple years of heavy use before we wore it completely out.

From about this time, there was not much contact Ola and her family. I would see her again after I returned home from my tour in the Navy. I spent a good bit of time in Kannapolis with Ola, Edna, Paul and others. I remember she seemed to be constantly going to or returning from work. Ola, like the rest of the family, grew up in some very hard times and I guess that had an effect on all of our lives.

Ola married Collis Frank Christian on December 14, 1940. They had three children, Nancy Louise (12-21-1941), Paul Daniel (03-12-1943), and David Ray (03-22-1948).

This is a picture of Mother and the five oldest children. Brothers on the back row left to right are Fred, George, and Howard. Sisters and Mother in the front, Ola, Mother, and Edna.

This is Ola's high school diploma, the first one in our family to graduate from high school.