Farewell to Ellen as one of Dudley's oldest residents dies aged 107
One of Dudley's oldest residents who has lived through the First and Second World Wars and was just three when the Titanic sank has died at the age of 107.
Miss Ellen 'Nell' Cook died at Gower Gardens Care Home in Halesowen on November 29.
Nell's family paid tribute to her as an 'extremely strong' and 'wonderful' lady who was family orientated.
She was born in Digbeth, Birmingham, on March 26, 1909, to parents Amelia and Arthur Cook.
Nell, who had lived in Halesowen for the last 25 years, grew up in a back-to-back house in Birmingham and lived there with her mother, father, two brothers and three sisters. She died on November 29 and her funeral will be held next week.
At the front of the building was a shop and the back was where the house was.
"She lived with eight of her family in the house," said Nell's niece Dianne Hall, 69, from Halesowen.
"The shop sold everything from paraffin to food." Her house was on Moseley Street.
Nell had outlived all her siblings, Dianne said. She had two nieces, two great-great-nephews and two -great-great-nieces.
She never married or had any children.
"Nell used to class herself as an 'unclaimed treasure'," Dianne said.
"She put her longevity down to two spoonfuls of sugar in her tea and having plenty of salt on her food. They tell us that's bad for us nowadays.
"We are very sad about her death but are just relieved she passed away peacefully in her sleep. Nell had been ill with pneumonia before.
"She loved life and lived a full life too. She was a wonderful lady who was very close to us all. She was extremely strong and fiesty."
Her funeral will be taking place at St Margarets Church, in Hasbury, on December 16,
Nell left school when was 12 and worked at a company in Birmingham called Blackham and Powell, where she made cardboard boxes.
During the Second World War, she worked for the former Austin car manufacturer; and did a variety of different jobs throughout her life, Diane said.
Nell retired when she was in her 60s but took up selling wool at Rackhams store in Birmingham for a time.
She was a keen knitter who made garments for charity Mary Stevens Hospice in Stourbridge. "There is still one unfinished that Nell had been working on before her death," Diane said.
She had also appeared on the ITV show 'Happiness' a few years ago with a Birmingham historian.
