Cruises and Floods

Ella Cruise Shannon was the last of a generation. She was the great-granddaughter of Irish immigrants who worked in the mills of the small industrial town of Lambertville, New Jersey which have since faded from memory. In her later years Ella was a school teacher and principal in northern New Jersey. As a younger woman, she served in the American Red Cross in England and Korea during the second World War. But aside from her distinguished professional careers, she held a special place in her family. At the age of 92 Ella died last month, after several years of fading into the mists of Alzheimer's disease. Her remains were laid to rest in the Cruise family plot at St. John's Cemetery in Lambertville this past weekend.

• The life and times of Ella Cruise Shannon: a century of photos compiled by Dolly Ann Shannon for display at a memorial dinner held in New Hope, Pennsylvania, July 22, 2006.
• Photos and other items relating to the Cruise and Flood families of Lambertville, New Jersey.
• Marriage Certificate, Vincent Joseph Shannon & Ella Teresa Cruise in Bloomfield, New Jersey, 27 July 1963.
• Travel Diary of Ella Shannon in Ireland and elsewhere, 1972-1974 and 1982.
• The Mostyn Club, American Red Cross Service Club, London, England, 1942-1943 William B. Cruise, Director.
• Miscellaneous documents of the Cruise family and Flood family of Lambertville, New Jersey.
• A few stones at St. John's Roman Catholic Cemetery in Lambertville, New Jersey.

Ella Shannon

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. — Ella Cruise Shannon, 92, of Ellicott City died Sunday, June 18.

Born in Lambertville, she lived there and in Yardley, Pa., and West Caldwell, N.J., before moving to Ellicott City.

She graduated from the former Lambertville High School in 1931, from the former Trenton State College, now the College of New Jersey, with a bachelor's of science degree in 1931 and from the college in 1953 with a master's degree.

She was a school principal. She began her career in a one-room school in Baptistown, N.J. She also taught in Roselle and Glen Ridge before becoming the principal of Linden Avenue School in Glen Ridge.

She was a director of American Red Cross service clubs in Europe during World War II and for one year in Korea.

She was the daughter of Bartley B. and Nellie Flood Cruise and sister of the late William B. Cruise, Robert Cruise and Mary Cruise Woldin.

Surviving are three stepdaughters, Kathleen Shannon of Lebanon and Dorothy Shannon and Gertrude Catania, both of Ellicott City; a stepson, Vincent Shannon of Souderton, Pa.; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

A service will be held July 22 at 10:30 a.m. at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Lambertville. Burial was in the parish cemetery.
Memorial donations may be made to any charity.

Arrangements were under the direction of Harry H. Witzke's Family Funeral Home Inc., Ellicott City.