Ellie’s home life was usually in havoc, she continually fought with her mother, and her father left home when Ellie was just six years old. She never really knew her father. Ellie’s mother had a constant stream of lovers and one of the even made a play for Ellie, even though she was only 6 yrs. old. When Ellie told her mother, her mother blamed Ellie for the encounter. Ellie’s mother remarried when she was eight and she did not get along with her stepfather. There were also constant conflicts between Ellie and her two brothers. No one in the family ever seemed to get along.

When Ellie was sixteen she had a great idea. Why not leave home and get the hell away from all of this. She was bored with the area, after all it was a dirty old steel mining town and she knew that she deserved better. The only problem was that she was broke and did not have the means to leave. Then Ellie really had a brainstorm. Since Jim was always there for her and she knew he would do anything for her, why not talk him into marrying her and take her away from all this mess. Ellie convinced Jim that they should be married and move to a new area to start a new life of their own. Of course it did not take much convincing on Ellie’s part since Jim was madly in love by now and would do just about anything Ellie asked. Ellie never really loved Jim, but she though that maybe she would learn to love him in time. At least she was away from her family and that was what she really wanted to accomplish. Jim and Ellie went to the town’s Justice of the Peace for a quick marriage ceremony, got into their 1937 Ford and headed for the great state of Michigan, the “state of jobs and opportunity.”

Jim did not have a skilled trade when they arrived in Michigan, so he got his first job at Ford Motor Company on the assembly line. Jim was not too bright, but he was a very dependable worker. Jim worked for Ford’s until he left for the service, thanks to Uncle Sam’s “greetings.” After four years with the U.S. Army Air Corp. Jim returned home and began working as a machinist for All State Steel Mill.

Jim and Ellie lived in a modest little two-bedroom home in the downriver area. Jim was a hard worker, but they were lucky to be able to make ends meet at the end of the month. They never had the money to live as Ellie really wanted to live, so she began to work at a small shop as a drill press operator. Ellie started to become a new, very independent person. Between there two pays they began to live a little more comfortably, more the way Ellie was meant to live.