Ethel M. Bounds, GW #164 

Ethel was born on 27 October 1910 in LaGrange, Ohio to Ernest and Rena (Damon) Bounds.  Her father was the superintendent of schools but later went into farming.  By 1930 Ethel has joined the Gospel Worker Society, but she did not stay in the society.  By 1937 Ethel has already left; she is mentioned in an article in the Elyria, Ohio “Chronicle Telegram” as one of the people that attended the quarterly meeting of the Lorain Baptist Association.  In the 1940 census she is found listed in Litchfield, Ohio with her parents and most of her siblings.  She had four years of high school and is working as a mission worker.  In the 1945 Lorain, Ohio city directory Ethel is reported as working as a restaurant worker.  In the 1953 Elyria, Ohio city directory she is reported as working as a manager in Kaase’s Bake shop.  Ethel died on 7 February 1980 and is buried in Poynters Chapel Cemetery in Baldrock, Laurel County, Kentucky.  The Social Security Death Index lists her last residence of Grafton, Lorain County, Ohio.  How she came to be buried in Kentucky is unknown.  As an interesting side note, Ethel’s mother was employed by the Union Gospel Press for some years.  City directories for 1951-1958 for Cleveland and for Parma list Rena Bounds, widow of Ernest, clerk for the Union Gospel Press.  Several entries list her as office secretary.  Apparently, by this time the Union Gospel Press is hiring people to work; maybe there were not enough Gospel Workers for the task.