from Allan Dash ‎Old Images of Philadelphia (He has a photo of Ella)

This was the former Ella Brown in the early '50s. She came over from Ireland in the late 19th century, married Peter Marks, and the couple lived in north Philadelphia until, for reasons unknown, they moved to suburban Glenside. An informal twosome -- perhaps a bit odd -- they insisted that their kids, grand kids and and great-grand kids (including me) call them "Nannie and Pete." They had three sons -- William, the oldest, was my grandfather and the yardmaster at the Reading RR's Belmont Yards; Charles, the middle son, was a Cheltenham Township commissioner for many years, and "young" James, who was gassed in WWI, took the rest of his life off and crewed on yachts traveling up and down the Inland Waterway. When my parents took me to visit Nannie and Pete in Glenside, I was always reminded by Mom not to say I liked anything in their home, because, if Nannie could lift it, she'd simply give me whatever it was. I was lucky to have such fun, loving, and downright eccentric relatives!