Ella Mae Bonnet, GW #196 

Ella was born on 15 November 1916 in McKeesport, PA to Elisee T. and Mary E. (Richards) Bonnet.  Elisee was born in Belgium but emigrated as a small child.  In 1920 the family was still living in McKeesport, but by 1930 they had moved to Youngstown, Ohio.  Ella’s father continued working as a blacksmith.  By 1940 Ella had joined the Gospel Workers but she did not stay with them.  Ella joined the US Army and served in the Women’s Army Corp.  The Veterans’ Affairs record states she enlisted on 2 January 1945 and was discharged on 4 February 1946.  The Army Enlistment Record says she was married, residing in Mahoning County, Ohio, had three years of high school and worked as a bookkeeper and cashier.  There is a marriage record in Paragould, Greene County, Arkansas that says Ella M. Bonnet who resides in Youngstown, Mahoning County, Ohio, married Arthur McKelvey of Paragould on 17 February 1946.  So when did she marry? Was the Army enlistment record made after the war, after she married? At any rate, the McKelveys had at least three daughters:  Bonnie, Mary Ella, and Patricia.  The McKelveys appear in the Pontiac, Michigan city directory in 1947.  By 1950 they were living in Clark, Greene County, AR.  According to that census record, the two daughters that they had at that time were born in Michigan. Ella died on 25 November 1985 and is buried in Green County Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Paragould, Arkansas next to her husband who died in 1998.  According to their tombstones, Ella achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant and her husband was a private.