Longtime advocate for the blind, Council dies at 89

Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2000 | 10:01 a.m.

It was nearly impossible for Ella Council not to develop a strong work ethic early in life.

A granddaughter of slaves, Ella picked cotton in east Texas fields at age 9, and, as a teenager, worked in the homes of wealthy white families as a cook and a maid.

At 89 Ella was still working, assembling mops for the military under a government contract at the Las Vegas Blind Center, of which she was a founding member in 1955 -- five years before glaucoma stole her sight.

Ella also managed to help raise 14 unwanted children from broken families, and she overcame the devastating racially-motivated slaying of her only son during the height of the civil rights movement.

Ella J. Council, a former cook at the old El Rancho Vegas and Sahara hotels, who served several terms as president and chairman of Southern Nevada Sightless Inc., died Friday at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center from apparent complications of the flu. She was 89.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of 63 years will be 1 p.m. Friday at Zion United Methodist Church. Visitation will be 2-7 p.m. Thursday at Palm Mortuary-Downtown. Burial will be in Woodlawn Cemetery.

In addition to her work for the blind, Council was an excellent ceramics artist whose works won numerous blue ribbons at local crafts shows.

"Miss Ella was an excellent worker and a sweet, gentle Southern woman," said Catherine Law, director of the Las Vegas Blind Center at 1001 N. Bruce St. "She was never bitter, even with all of the obstacles she faced in life. And she had a way of putting people at ease."

Blind Center volunteer Jenny Tubridy said: "Whenever I had to interrupt Miss Ella's ceramics class and ask her to sign papers, she was always so understanding -- always so kind. I never saw her get upset with anything."

John Tait, former longtime director of the Blind Center who now is retired and living in New Canton, Ill., recalled Council's commitment to improving the lives of the sightless.

"She was so dedicated to helping blind people," he said. "Once we helped her overcome her blindness by teaching her Braille and giving her faith in herself, she helped others by teaching them Braille and by instilling in them a sense of self worth."

Sandra Fowler, who Council took into her home on Jan. 1, 1960, the day Ella went blind, said Council lived a lifetime of unselfish devotion to others.

"I was an angry 12-year-old when I came to live with her, and she was so instrumental in turning my life around," said Fowler, who has worked for Vons for 28 years. "She taught me how to turn my anger into love. And she showed me how to be a strong woman with understanding and concern. And she helped many others like me."

Although not licensed to run a foster care home, Council often took neglected children into her home and helped raise them -- some to adulthood.

Born Ella Johnson on Aug. 24, 1910, in Jasper, Texas, 100 miles northeast of Houston, she was the youngest of three children of sawmill worker Louis Johnson and the former Lizzie Grant, a housekeeper.

Starting at age 9, Ella picked cotton from March through August and attended school from September through February. She was forced to drop out of school in the eighth grade to help support her family after her sister Lavinia died.

As a domestic worker, Ella learned to cook. Eventually, her family moved to Arizona. In 1937 she settled in Las Vegas.

Twice married and twice divorced, Ella kept her second husband's last name.

In the 1940s she got a job as a cook at the El Rancho, the first hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. In the 1950s she went to the Sahara and eventually became a pantry worker. Blindness forced her to leave that job.

She was among the first workers at the Blind Center, where she made key rings for area casinos and mattress buttons. Law noted that Council donated the salary she earned for that work back to the fledgling center to help keep it in operation.

In 1967 Council's son, Ruben Green, was murdered while visiting his girlfriend in Arkansas. Although Council was given conflicting stories about what happened, there was little question that he was one of many victims in the fight for racial equality.

In the 1960s and '70s Council served several terms as president of Southern Nevada Sightless Inc., which operates the Blind Center. At the time of her death she was the organization's oldest and longest serving member.

Council also was a member of the National Federation of the Blind and a past member of the Order of the Eastern Star.

Although Council left no survivors, Law noted: "Miss Ella touched many lives. A lot of us around here are going to miss her, and we will never forget what she meant to us."