Martha Jane (Cates) Ellison

Affectionately known as Mama, Nana, Marty, Jane, MJ and Aunt Marty.  Martha Jane Cates Ellison passed away peacefully on December 4 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease and pneumonia, following complications from a COVID infection.  

Marty was born in 1941 near Roxboro, North Carolina, to John David Cates and Pattie Daniel Cates. After her mother’s untimely death, Mary Daniel lovingly took on the role of stepmother. Marty began her life journey as a Christian at Brookland United Methodist Church. Marty spent her early years on the family’s tobacco farm, leaving Roxboro at 18 to explore the wider world. Her journey took her to Minneapolis before she ultimately settled in northern Virginia, where she took pride in her work at the Pentagon for the Navy Department.  

In 1961, Marty married the love of her life, Arnold Carl Ellison, and the two shared a beautiful life together until Carl’s passing in 2021. When their son was born, Marty devoted herself fully to nurturing and caring for her family. The Ellison family lived in Greensboro, North Carolina, from 1966 to 1987, with several years spent in the suburbs of Brussels, Belgium. After Carl’s retirement, Marty enjoyed life at Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia, returned to Roxboro, and eventually settled in Wilkes County, where she cherished being close to her daughter, Pattie Ellison Black; her son-in-law, Matthew Charles Black; and her grandson, Robert “Bobby” Ellison Black, and girlfriend, Martha Ann Straughan. While living in Wilkesboro, she attended First United Methodist Church of North Wilkesboro.

Marty was preceded in death by her parents, John, Pattie, and Mary; her beloved husband, Carl; her brothers, Bobby and George; and their wives, Patsy and Scotty; and her brother- and sister-in-law, Gerald and Geneva Ellison. She is survived by her daughter, Pattie, and her family; her son, Bryan Craig Ellison, and his husband, Michael Durgin, of Frankfurt, Germany; her sister, Della Daniel Peers, and her husband, Martin Peers, of Garner, North Carolina; and numerous nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews, including Tammy Ellison Owens of Collinsville, Virginia, and Renea Cates Dixon of Nicholasville, Kentucky. She will also be lovingly remembered by other members of the Ellison, Cates, Falkenstein, and Daniel families.  

The family would like to extend their heartfelt gratitude to the staff at Rose Glen Manor in North Wilkesboro and Brighton Gardens in Winston-Salem for the compassionate care they provided to Marty.  She loved you all more than you will ever know. 

We would also like to acknowledge the care she and our family received from the staff at Wilkes Medical Center. 

A Celebration of Life honoring Marty and Carl will be held at one of their favorite restaurants, Ted’s Kickin’ Chicken in North Wilkesboro, on Saturday, December 7, from 1 to 4 p.m. A brief devotional period will take place around 1:15. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests making donations in Marty’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association, 4600 Park Road, Suite 250, Charlotte, NC 28209.   

Online condolences may be made to www.reinssturdivant.com.

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