Ella M. Champion
May 11, 1872-Dec. 14, 1968
Niles Daily Star (Niles, Berrien Co., MI), Monday, December 16, 1968, page 3, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library.
Education pioneer dies at Pawating
By: Robert Kramer, Education Writer
NILES-- Miss Ella M. Champion, a former Niles school teacher and administrator, encouraged her student to lead active, inquisitive lives.
Mrs. Champion died at 4 p.m. Saturday in Pawating after 96 year of practicing what she preached.
She began teaching grade school in the Niles system after high school graduation. By attending summer sessions at the University of Chicago and completing correspondence courses, she earned a bachelors degree and membership in the Phi Beta kappa honorary fraternity.
During the depression Miss Champion, who was then elementary supervisor for the Niles schools, taught art classes and supervised grade school teaching.
“Ella Champion taught me how to teach,” said Miss Hester Scott, current Niles elementary Supervisor.
“She was an inspiring supervisor, always visiting classrooms and always offering really valuable and helpful suggestions to improve teaching.
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“She was, of course, interested in art, and able to convey her excitement to the children. But she also intrigued them with her understanding of other areas. She was an expert in nature study and a great story teller. She really captivated the children with her stories and also her poetry readings.
“She was always interested in poetry and read it beautifully,” Miss Scott related.
Miss Champion's interest in these areas continued until her death. Even in recent years she produced paintings and poetry at a remarkable rate.
'I'd guess that she's hand painted well over a hundred Christmas cards in the last three years,” said John Parnell, a long-time friend. “And she also wrote amazing amounts of poetry. She lived with Miss Ruth Swan and they put together books of her poetry and gave them as presents. The books themselves are works of art.
“She gave my wife and me a book when we were married and another at the birth of each child.
“In addition, I suspect there are well over 200 of her paintings scattered throughout the town, “ Parnell said.
Three of Miss Champion's watercolors, depicting the Indiana dunes and water scenes, hang in the office of Richard B. Warren, superintendent of the Niles school system. Warren knew the former elementary supervisor when he was a junior high school teacher here.
“She was a remarkable woman, with much intelligence and interest in many different things. Her knowledge of nature found beautiful expression in her watercolors.
“Miss Champion's extreme vigor was remarkable. I'd talked to her several times in the past few years and each time she was both interested and aware of the latest developments in education” Warren said.
Miss Champion had become a town legend in her own lifetime. Last week Mayor Frank Frucci, Jr. suggested that the Recreation Board establish a park across from the library.
The mayor recommended the new facility be named “Ella Champion Park.”
Miss Champion was born on May 11, 1872 in Niles and lived here all her life.
Miss Champion was a member of the Wesley United Methodist Church and a charter member of the Business and Professional Womens Club.
She is survived by three nephews: Francis Champion of Centralia, Wash.; William Champion of Chicago, Ill.; and Edwin Champion of Redondo Beach, Calif.
Funeral services will be held at 4 pm. Tuesday at the Pifer Funeral Home with the Rev. Robert Trenery, pastor of the Wesley United Methodist Church, officiating. Burial will be in Silverbrook Cemetery.
Friends may call at the Pifer Funeral Home.