Ellen Boyd

ELLEN FOSTER BOYD, daughter of Jordan Foster and Mattie Gladney, and a longtime resident of Baltimore, died Monday, July 4, 2005. She was 101.Born in Fairfield County, S.C., Mrs. Boyd was one of 10 children.Mrs. Boyd attended Fairfield County public schools, and met and married Robert Caldwell Boyd. They settled in Fairfield County and later moved to Chester, S.C. Seeking work, Mr. Boyd moved to Baltimore in 1950, and Mrs. Boyd and their children joined him in 1955. The family first lived on Port Street, then East North Avenue, and then Caroline Street before settling at 414 Whitridge Ave., where Mrs. Boyd lived for nearly 40 years. Poor health and injuries made it necessary for her to move to Future Care Charles Village on Charles Street, where she lived her final days.Mrs. Boyd joined the Nation of Islam after moving to Baltimore, and was a loyal member of Muhammad’s Masjid No. 6 (originally known as Muhammad’s Temple No. 6), on Wilson Street in West Baltimore. She attended several Saviors’ Day rallies in Chicago. She was a leader in the M.G.T.-G.C.C. (Muslim Girls Training-General Civilization Class) and the Pioneers Culture Club, and was known in Islam as Ellen Muhammad.She also was a neighborhood fixture on Whitridge Avenue. Her home was open to many, family and friends alike, offering warm hospitality, home cooked meals, and baked goods-rolls, sweet potato pies and bean pies. Mrs. Boyd also crocheted tabletop doilies, made quilts, canned vegetables and fruits. Most of all, she offered homespun wisdom and unconditional love to all who came through her doors.Mrs. Boyd’s husband preceded her in death in 1968. Also deceased are sons, Willie, Ernest and Charles; and daughters Joelle, Shirley and Mattie Bea Crosby. She leaves to mourn: five sons, Robert, of Chester, S.C., Mark, of Baltimore, George of York, Pa., James, of Greenville, S.C., and John, of Baltimore; three daughters, Pauline Gray, of Chester, S.C., Mary Ellen Childs, of Baltimore, and Alberta Gibson, of Baltimore and a host of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, other relatives, friends and neighbors.

Tributes

Ellen Boyd

December 22, 1904 - July 4, 2005